A Hearing Tribunal issued its written decision on the merit and sanctions regarding the conduct of a pharmacist who admitted to submitting inaccurate, false, and misleading records during his participation in the ACP’s Continuing Competence Program (CCP).
The pharmacist’s actions were determined by a Hearing Tribunal to be acts of unprofessional conduct. In its decision, the Hearing Tribunal affirmed the necessity for registrants to understand, and fully comply with, the requirements of the CCP, no matter their personal circumstances. The Hearing Tribunal went on to outline that registrants must be honest in their dealings with ACP.
As a pharmacist, or a pharmacy technician, you must take personal responsibility to ensure you understand and comply with all aspects of the CCP.
In this matter, the Tribunal imposed costly penalties, even though the pharmacist took responsibility for his actions, there had been no previous history of unprofessional conduct on the part of the pharmacist, and there was no demonstrated patient harm. The Tribunal ordered
- a reprimand,
- the pharmacist to complete and receive an unconditional pass of the CPEP Probe Course within 12 months of its decision,
- a fine of $1,500, and
- a payment of $2,000 towards the costs of the hearing.
Rationale for the Tribunal’s decision is reflected in its following statements:
[The pharmacist] failed to practice in accordance with the letter and spirit of laws that govern the practice of pharmacists due to his admitted failure to comply with the direction provided in the competence program manual, instructions distributed as part of the virtual practice review, and directly assigned to him by the ACP Competence Administrator. His non-compliance stemmed not only from failure to make himself aware of the requirements from the outset, but also from failure to meet technical criteria such as ensuring that his cases were from actual practice scenarios within the designated continuing education cycles and that were unique from other previously submitted cases for other applications. Though he later took some responsibility for his conduct by way of his Admission, he violated the relevant Code of Ethics principles by failure to take initial responsibility for maintaining a high standard of professional competence which would have been demonstrated by making himself better aware of the competence standards before he made any case submissions. When he was asked to resubmit several cases, he failed to use this opportunity constructively and continued the pattern of reusing old cases and modifying dates on his documentation, continuing a pattern of dishonesty with the College’s Competence Program.
… … …
The public needs to have trust in the profession in order for its integrity as a self-regulated profession to be preserved. This necessarily includes ensuring that regulated members are properly fulfilling their continuing education requirements and being forthright and honest with their regulator.
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians – incorporate these lessons into your approach to your participation in ACP’s Competence Program:
- Review, understand, and comply with your professional obligations and specific requirements outlined in the ACP’s Competence Program. Information about the program and its requirements can be found in the CCP Requirements section of the ACP website.
- If you are not certain about the requirements of the program, DON’T guess or assume. Clarify any uncertainty you might have BEFORE providing required documents or making declarations.
- Do not allow your personal circumstances to negatively affect your professional obligations.
- Do not cut corners with the documents that you provide as part of the CCP.
*Corrections were made to this article on November 18, 2025.
