Former Morden pharmacy manager pleads guilty to professional misconduct

A former Morden pharmacy manager who admitted he lacked the proper knowledge and skill to do his job has pleaded guilty to professional misconduct.

Mohamed Fathy Abdelhamid managed the pharmacy at the Shoppers Drug Mart in Morden from September 2021 to June 2022, but he resigned from the position amid “continued chaos” in his department, a recent College of Pharmacists of Manitoba disciplinary decision said.

Abdelhamid pleaded guilty at a hearing in front of the college’s discipline committee in October, where he admitted he showed “a lack of knowledge or lack of skill or judgment.”

The regulator also fined Abdelhamid $7,500 and ordered him to pay another $7,500 in hearing costs.

The college began an investigation in 2023 after a kidney transplant patient told the regulator they went without immunosuppressant prescription drugs for two months, because the pharmacy Abdelhamid managed failed to provide a continued supply of pills, wanting forms authorizing refills.

The patient had to undergo emergency procedures to keep from rejecting the transplanted kidney, but the organ was still permanently damaged, says the college’s decision.

In 2022, the college found, Abdelhamid failed to properly investigate after a patient was given an incorrect fentanyl prescription.

The patient had been prescribed 50-microgram fentanyl lollipops, but instead received patches that dispensed that amount of the powerful opioid per hour. That dosage “can be dangerous, even fatal,” the college’s decision said.

As the pharmacy’s manager, Abdelhamid was obligated to investigate the incident, but didn’t.

Pharmacists are required under regulations to talk to patients about prescriptions to ensure they use the medications appropriately, particularly drugs they haven’t previously taken. The decision says that Abdelhamid failed to ensure pharmacy assistants were directing patients to a pharmacist for those counselling discussions when given new prescriptions.

Abdelhamid also failed to ensure that proper counts of controlled substances were completed while he was the manager, the decision said.

On several occasions, he failed to check the inventories of all controlled substances every three months, failed to ensure all inventory discrepancies were investigated and failed to report all unexplained shortages to Health Canada and the Manitoba college, as required.

The regulator said there was no evidence any narcotic or other controlled drugs were being diverted from the pharmacy.

Abdelhamid got his pharmacy degree in Egypt in 1997 and became a registered pharmacist in Canada in 2019. He took over as pharmacy manager at the Shoppers Drug Mart in Morden in 2021 — the first time he’d held such a role.

He took a role managing a Rexall pharmacy in Winnipeg in 2023.

The regulatory college twice sent him formal reminder letters about his obligations as a pharmacy manager in 2023.

Abdelhamid co-operated with the college’s investigation, took responsibility for his actions and showed remorse for his conduct, the decision said.

He told the college he had not been properly trained on inventory-management systems, particularly for narcotic drugs.

The college said it recognized Abdelhamid took over the Morden pharmacy during a stressful time, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the drug store dealt with increased demand and fewer staff, including some who were inexperienced.

However, it found, given he had twice worked at Shoppers Drug Marts before taking on the manager role, he should have been aware of policies and procedures and ought to have better followed them.

Abdelhamid also should have taken steps to educate himself on his obligations when he took on the pharmacy manager role, said the decision.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca