One bad apple

April 4, 2004

Dear Sir,

I am writing in response to the article in on Friday, April 2 concerning a hospital pharmacist convicted of stealing and abusing controlled drugs.

It is unfortunate that the convicted pharmacist?s lawyer suggested that drug abuse is common among pharmacists. This statement could mislead the public into thinking that their local pharmacist is a drug addict. While I am not saying that the profession of pharmacy, as well as the other health professionals and lawyers, are not immune to drug addictions, it is not commonplace. Bermuda is blessed with great pharmacists. Pharmacy in this Country is specialised and very community oriented. Your pharmacist is a wealth of information.

While I truly believe that we have excellent pharmacists on this island, I am not denying that certain safeguards must be put into place to protect the public. While pharmacists have access to dangerous substances and while we self-police, there is a need for greater involvement of a higher authority, a Government Pharmacist, to ensure the accurate accounting of these substances. Currently the Government Pharmacist is only a part-time position and so most of the checks and balances are left for the pharmacists to perform. Indeed, It was only the diligence of one of the convicted pharmacist?s co-workers that led to his arrest.

It is unfortunate that this pharmacist has come to Bermuda and unprofessionally committed these acts of crime, and it is regrettable that the pharmacy profession?s name has been slandered because of this, but instead of mistrust in our current pharmacists, we should be commended for identifying these acts of crime and acting on them accordingly and use this event as an eye opener to prevent this from happening again. We wish to assure the public that Bermuda can continue to rely on us for accessible, accurate and useful drug information.

THE FUBLER FAMILY Mrs. Fubler was not convicted through the media but in court when she pleaded guilty to the offence. She has not yet been sentenced. This will occur in May when she and her lawyer will be able to make a plea in mitigation in the Supreme Court. It was in the public interest for the media to do follow-up stories on child abuse.