The Pharmacy Council says it has no jurisdiction to further consider its 2006 investigation into the former Campus Pharmacy over dispensing methadone to a patient who later died of an overdose.
The council made the statement after reviewing Health and Disability Commissioner Rae Lamb's report, which found the pharmacy, then owned by Peter Barron, breached a man's rights to have services provided with reasonable care and skill.
Ms Lamb's report followed an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Christopher Wilson (27) who was dispensed someone else's dose of methadone on March 16, 2006.
In an appendix to the report, Ms Lamb's expert adviser, pharmacist Maree Jensen, said her investigations had led her to the view Mr Barron had breached two principles of the Pharmacy Council's pharmacist code of ethics, namely to optimise medicines-related outcomes and prevent harm to the patient and public.
No reference to this has been made in the pharmacy council statement and chief executive Bronwyn Clark would not elaborate on the statement.
When the pharmacy council investigated the matter in 2006, it was of the view that the error made by the dispensing pharmacist was not an issue of competence or one to be referred for further investigation by a professional conduct committee.
The council requested an update on the changes implemented since Mr Wilson's death and sought confirmation all pharmacists involved in dispensing methadone at the pharmacy were familiar with any new procedures implemented.
In response, the pharmacy provided a copy of the new standard operating procedures for methadone dispensing and confirmed all staff were familiar with the changes.
The council made additional recommendations in accordance with the Opioid Substitution Treatment Guidelines relating to clarifying the process of identifying the client, managing dispensing errors, tracking dispensed and missed doses and managing changes to a methadone dose.
In its statement this week, the council said in its March 2007 newsletter it had alerted all pharmacists to the importance of correctly identifying methadone clients.
It said it would provide information to all pharmacists about the findings and recommendations in Ms Lamb's report in accordance with its ongoing role to provide education and guidance to the profession and to protect the public's health and safety.
