SRX Pharma Inc. ordered to pay largest fine ever by Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals

An ex-pharmacy manager for SRX Pharma Inc. in Saskatoon is being commended for coming forward about a scheme to over-bill Indigenous Services Canada for hepatitis C medication. The Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals fined the pharmacy $30,000 and ordered it to pay the amount of the investigation, which was $25,875. The college explained that they wanted the penalty to be “proportionate to the seriousness of the wrongdoing.” In addition, the pharmacy had to pay back more than $70,000 to Indigenous Services Canada. The whistleblower, a pharmacist referred to as 'DM' in the decision from the College, was the manager of SRX pharmacy in Saskatoon when it opened on June 9, 2017. Read: Doctor gets nearly 17 years in prison for vast opioid scheme He was told to bill the maximum allowable amount for hepatitis C medication to the NIHB, which covers eligible First Nations and Inuit clients. In fact, he should have been billing the actual cost to the pharmacy, including the credits and discounts it was receiving from its wholesaler. DM was also told to ask the drug wholesaler to change their invoices to the maximum allowable cost instead of the actual cost. And he was told that information about discounts and markups should be kept confidential. When he asked SRX owner Adesh Vora if this was the proper way to bill, Vora said it was. When DM expressed concerns about this, including saying that the pharmacy wouldn’t pass an audit, Vora said that he and his team had “looked into the billing situation in Saskatchewan over 50 times” and that other pharmacies were also billing hepatitis C drugs at the maximum allowable unit cost to the NHIB. In mid-November of that year, DM resigned. He then submitted a written complaint to the college, as well as texts between him and Vora and copies of the wholesaler’s invoices. Read: Fake teen doctor, now 25, sentenced to prison for new scam The college then recommended that Indigenous Services Canada’s Non-Insured Health Benefits Program (NIHB) do an audit of the situation. Two forensic audits were done, which concluded that the NIHB was “potentially overbilled” by $73,795.40 and $265,458.28. They also recommended they try to recover at least the smaller amount from SRX, which they did—SRX paid that on Sept. 2, 2021. Vora had previously been in trouble with the Ontario College of Pharmacists, where he was registered. He had improper NIHB billing practices around hepatitis C drugs. The Ontario College found that his "process for billing and dispensing was not appropriate and that billing earlier than dispensing and billing more frequently than dispensing created inaccurate records and were done for business reasons rather than for patient care purposes.” They gave him an oral caution. That history was one reason the discipline committee decided on a more significant penalty. Another was the context, explained Michael Davis, chairperson of the Discipline of the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals, who wrote the decision. “SRX exploited a government initiative designed to improve access to health care services for First Nations and Inuit peoples who have been subject to injustice and discrimination in Canada and who continue to face substantial social and economic disparities, including in relation to health services,” he wrote. “The Discipline Committee finds that an appropriate sanction in the circumstances should reflect the nature of SRX’s egregious and unethical misconduct and resolutely denounce any similar misconduct.” Read: Roundup: How do Canada's physician colleges differ on handling sexual misconduct complaints?

SRX Pharma Inc. ordered to pay largest fine ever by Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals

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