Patel had been working at the pharmacy for four years when he began ordering the extra stock and hiding it in his bedroom and the boot of his car, according to an agreed summary of facts presented to the tribunal today.
He hid the thefts by editing each purchase order so the additional stock was never recorded by the pharmacy.
Through two Trade Me accounts, Patel sold the medications - including pharmacy-only allergy relief, anti-fungal treatments, iron supplements, antiseptic cream, laxatives, reflux medicine, eye drops, smoking cessation gum, lozenges and patches.
He was charged with making 2000 online sales through 6000 listings, which included other general products such as dietary and nutrition supplements, menopause support, skincare and make-up.
At the height of the scam, Patel was listing and selling products online up to twice a week, the tribunal heard.
By April 2020, the pharmacy owner - who along with the pharmacy has name suppression - noticed extra Habitrol Lozenges on the premises.
The lozenges are used to help smokers quit and must be sold from a licenced pharmacy.
The owner searched through CCTV footage and found Patel was responsible for ordering and removing the medication.
An employment investigation was launched and a private investigator confronted Patel on April 2, 2020, when the tribunal heard he admitted the thefts, showed the investigator medication he had in his car and at home, and paid back $100,000.
Patel told the investigator he provided his pharmacist’s registration to Trade Me to “get around” a requirement of the Medicines Act 1981 that pharmacy-only medication be sold by pharmacies.
The tribunal heard by doing this Patel was “clearly abusing his position as a registered pharmacist”.
The pharmacy owner complained to the Pharmacy Council and in May 2020 Patel surrendered his practising certificate while the council referred the complaint to a professional conduct committee [PCC]. He was later suspended.
The owner also complained to police who investigated and charged Patel.
He pleaded guilty and was convicted in the District Cout of a representative charge of theft by a person in a special relationship in May last year. In August he was sentenced to six months’ community detention.
At today’s hearing, Patel - through defence counsel Ian Brookie - disputed three of the 68 types of medication the PCC claimed Patel stole because they weren’t sold at the pharmacy. The PCC accepted two weren’t.
Patel also claimed there were 32 items sold that were given to him by family members or sales representatives, including Voltaren Emulgel and multivitamins.
However, counsel for the PCC, Gillian Weir, said this was unlikely and Patel had not presented any evidence to prove the claim.
Weir said there were still 66 medications stolen from the pharmacy, including diabetic strips sold directly to another pharmacist.
That was done 11 times when Patel sold 100 strips at a time for $1005 each time.
Weir said the public was entitled to expect Patel would not abuse his privileged position to access pharmacy products for his personal gain.
“This level of intentional, deliberate ongoing dishonesty clearly reflects adversely on Mr Patel’s fitness to practice and he’s admitted that,” she said.
“The theft was not a one-off, spur of the moment, error of judgment, which is sometimes the case. It involved a deliberate and sophisticated deception and occurred once or twice a week over four years.
“It was a gross breach of trust, theft from his employer who was a fellow pharmacist.”
Brookie said Patel made admissions that formed the basis of the PCC case against him when he was unrepresented by a lawyer.
He said Patel did not admit negligence or malpractice and he argued only a small proportion of the stolen medication was pharmacy-only.
“Mr Patel has learned a very hard lesson from what he did and he is both remorseful and a low risk of reoffending.”
The tribunal said part of one of the charges, that Patel abused his position as a registered pharmacist when he sold or supplied stolen pharmacy products on at least 2000 occasions, was not established.
However, the tribunal said his conduct warranted disciplinary sanction and a penalty hearing would be held next week.
Natalie Akoorie is a senior reporter based in Waikato and covering crime and justice nationally. Natalie first joined the Herald in 2011 and has been a journalist in New Zealand and overseas for 28 years, more recently covering health, social issues, local government, and the regions.
