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'Dr HS' pharmacist exonerated

A pharmacist who faced disciplinary proceedings before the Statutory Committee of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain for supplying diamorphine to Dr HS which he used to murder victims has been completely exonerated.

The Society had criticised Mrs GB, a pharmacist who practised from premises next door to Dr HS's surgery in Hyde, for failing to notice unusual patterns in the doctor's prescribing habits.

David Aaronberg made a submission of no case to answer following the conclusion of the prosecution's case. He accused the Society of employing 'Alice in Wonderland' logic and said that its evidence was "in tatters," following numerous concessions made under cross-examination by the Society's Inspector and its expert witness.

Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, in a reserved judgment upholding the submission, pointed to the failure of others to have noticed irregularities and said that it would be "grossly unfair to single out Mrs GB as culpable." He remarked that "because the luckless Mrs GB had a professional association with the 'uniquely evil' Dr HS, she [might be regarded by some] as being in some way tainted." He said that the Committee "reject that entirely. She is more to be praised than pilloried."

Lord Fraser stated that neither the Society's Inspector, nor its expert witness, had ultimately supported the prosecution's assertion that Mrs GB had "failed in her duty in not recognising that the repeated doses of 30mg of diamorphine gave rise to queries about its use that Mrs GB should have raised and reported... In such circumstances, we would regard it as both proper and inevitable that we should sustain the submission of 'no case to answer' made by Mr Aaronberg."

Members of 15 New Bridge Street regularly represent pharmacists facing disciplinary proceedings before the Statutory Committee of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and are also frequently instructed to defend pharmacists in criminal proceedings, varying from minor breaches of regulations to offences under the Medicines and Misuse of Drugs Acts, offences of deception, and large scale conspiracies, with other health care professionals, to defraud the NHS.

For further information

• Dr HS pharmacist cleared - The Guardian
• Dr HS pharmacist decision later - BBC News
• Dr HS pharmacist is criticised - BBC News

26 May 2005

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