A lead pharmacy technician at a university medical center in Loma Linda, California, was accused by the state Board of Pharmacy of diverting 6,540 tablets of several controlled substances from the hospital pharmacy's electronic vault and dispensing system. The accusation covered April 2007 through August 2008.
According to the decision, the technician's duties included preparing controlled substances for the hospital's automated dispensing cabinets. A printed sheet identified the narcotics and quantities needed for each cabinet, the technician filled labeled bags for each machine, and a pharmacist was to verify the contents before the bags were delivered to the units.
The Board's case relied in part on dispensing-system records attributing transactions to the technician's user account. At hearing, the technician testified to having only glanced at a 20-page transaction listing rather than reading it in full. The administrative law judge found that the evidence established diversion of more than 6,000 controlled-substance tablets.
The Board adopted the proposed decision on February 7, 2011, effective March 9, 2011, and revoked the pharmacy technician registration outright, concluding that revocation was required for the protection of the public.