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A superintendent pharmacist who exported thousands of doses of controlled drugs to the US and other countries on a “vast scale” has been struck off by the GPhC‘s fitness to practise committee.

Hemantkumar Navnitbhai Patel, who was superintendent pharmacist at Lords Dispensing Chemist in Barking, East London, did not attend his videolink FtP hearing, which concluded on March 19.

He was found to have exported “approximately 39,000 items” to the US and around the world, the majority of which comprised opioid painkillers, benzodiazepine, gabapentin and sleeping tablets.

He did not have the required Home Office export licence nor the appropriate insurance arrangements in place.

Mr Patel was also found to have failed to put adequate safeguards in place in relation to the overseas dispensing service, which he carried out on behalf of online platform Healthinfoservices. He failed to assess the suitability of prescribing decisions or to have standard operating procedures for the service, the FtP committee found.

A GPhC inspector visited the bricks-and-mortar pharmacy on December 20, 2022, following the MHRA receiving a tip-off from the United Nations that packages despatched from the premises had been intercepted by US Customs.

The inspector found packages in the pharmacy that had been prepared for despatch to America and labelled as containing health supplements, when in fact they contained controlled drugs.

Mr Patel told the inspector he was contracted to provide a dispensing service by Healthinfoservices but did not disclose that he was a director of that company, which the FtP committee highlighted as displaying a lack of integrity. He denied that he had tried to conceal this, describing the inspection as a “stressful” experience.

The pharmacy provided data relating to the overseas dispensing service to the regulator, which uncovered the “vast scale” of the operation. This included the supply of around 20,000 codeine-based items, 11,000 supplies of benzodiazepines and 5,000 supplies of Z drugs, the majority of which were sent to the US.

Mr Patel’s statement and reflections “broadly concede that mistakes were made,” the FtP committee reported, although he denied acting without integrity.

“I deeply regret that I did not undertake adequate checks to prevent this and now understand that I and the Pharmacy should not have entered into any agreement with Healthinfoservices Limited,” he told the GPhC in a written statement.

He added: “I did not think that I was exporting but rather dispensing against a valid prescription.

“For this reason, I did not think about a possible requirement to have a licence, and I was unawarethat a Home Office licence was needed.

“I did not try to circumvent any laws, but I regret not making these checks.”

The 71-year-old pharmacist said he wished to return to working in community pharmacy if permitted, commenting: “I do not want to end my pharmacy career in disgrace.”

He stepped down as superintendent pharmacist and appointed a replacement when an interim suspension order was imposed in 2023, telling the committee that he recognised the seriousness of the allegations and wished to comply with the FtP process.

While the FtP committee noted his previously unblemished career as a pharmacist, it found that the scale of the operation along with the “disregard” shown for the rules around dispensing drugs with “vast potential for abuse” were incompatible with allowing Mr Patel to continue practising as a pharmacist.

The committee also found he had shown “limited insight” and inadequate remediation. Citing a risk of possible repetition of his actions, it decided to remove his name from the register.