N.C. Rx'er's license renewed after Dilaudid conviction
WASHINGTON - A federal administrative law judge granted a controlled substance license to a North Carolina pharmacist who served two years for illegally distributing Dilaudid.
In 1981 pharmacist Ozie T. Faison Jr. and his partner (identified by the Drug Enforcement Agency as a "Dr. Littman") were convicted of conspiracy for dispensing Schedule II drugs without "a legitimate medical purpose." Faison was sentenced to eight years on the felony count and his North Carolina pharmacy license was suspended.
He subsequently served 20 months in prison and four in a halfway house, was paroled in 1984 and completed the parole in 1988. Following the 1981 conviction, Smith Discount Drugs in New Bern, N.C. (the store co-owned by Faison and Littman) was sold, and in 1985, the store went out of business. One month later the now-paroled Faison re-leased the premises and bought the defunct store's inventory.
Due to the suspension of his DEA registration, however, the pharmacist could not handle controlled drugs, a restriction which hurt business and threatened the continued existence of the pharmacy. Attempts by Faison to renew his controlled substance authorization in 1986 and 1987 were rebuffed by DEA. In response to his third and most recent request for reinstatement, however, an administrative law judge recommended granting registration for Faison to stock and dispense Schedule III, IV and V drugs. The compromise ruling did not authorize sale of more commonly abused Schedule II drugs.
The judge said the ruling was based on Faison's "remorse," the pharmacy's importance to the low-income community, the state's reinstatement of Faison's pharmacy license and the absence of further relationship with Dr. Littman (now deceased).
According to the judge, Faison's past misconduct "was almost exclusively tied to his "unusual" relationship with his lifetime mentor, Dr. Littman. She said the bond between the two "supplanted that which normally exists between doctor and pharmacist," and concluded that it was "unlikely that such a relationship would ever again occur."
COPYRIGHT 1990 Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
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