After Patel was caught, he was charged with theft by a person in a special relationship and sentenced to six months’ community detention in the district court.
Patel’s case was also heard by the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (HPDT), which found him guilty last year of two charges of professional misconduct, bringing discredit to his profession.
The penalty was issued shortly after but was publicly released only this week.
According to the decision, Patel’s registration was cancelled and he was not allowed to apply for reregistration with the Pharmacy Council for six months.
That time has now lapsed but Patel has not reregistered, according to the council’s public register.
According to the tribunal’s ruling, Patel’s offending was uncovered when the pharmacy owner discovered extra boxes of nicotine lozenges at the premises.
He reviewed CCTV footage from inside the store, which indicated Patel had been responsible for ordering excess stock and removing it from the pharmacy.
The owner then hired a private investigator who confronted Patel in 2020.
He admitted the theft and immediately repaid $100,000 to the pharmacy.
Patel told the private investigator he provided his pharmacist’s registration to Trade Me to “get around” a legal requirement that pharmacy-only medication be sold by pharmacies.
In considering Patel’s penalty, the tribunal found that cancelling his registration was appropriate to protect the public from his “dishonest and untrustworthy behaviour”.
“He will need to satisfy his profession that he is fit to practise,” it said.
Patel was also censured and ordered to pay $41,000 in legal costs.
He will need to complete a course of training or instruction addressing the legal and professional obligations for pharmacists, as approved by the Pharmacy Council, before applying to reregister.
Patel’s lawyer, Ian Brookie, said his client had accepted responsibility for his offending and repaid the pharmacy.
“He has always been remorseful and remains remorseful for his actions,” Brookie said.
“He also co-operated with, and participated in, the HPDT process, including the voluntary surrender of his practising certificate during the investigation phase.”
Brookie said Patel did not dispute the majority of the charges, and pointed out that the tribunal had ruled in his favour in regards to three of the medications he sold on Trade Me not being sold at the pharmacy where he worked, meaning he couldn’t have stolen them.
“The tribunal then imposed a penalty on him, which he accepted … He is now trying to get on with his life.”
Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.
