Two pharmacist-owners fined for illegally profiting during the pandemic

It was a well-oiled machine. The Quebec pharmacist-owners sold hydroalcoholic gel or sunscreen to their customers and billed much more expensive equivalents to the third-party payer of the Interim Federal Health Program (IFH), for a total profit of $205,000. Quebec’s Conseil de discipline de l'Ordre des pharmaciens (OPQ) recently found the pharmacists guilty of violating section 55 of the Code of Ethics of Pharmacists, which states that, “Pharmacists must fulfill their professional obligations with integrity.”In two separate decisions, Joseph Alexander Basa was fined a total of $25,000 and struck off the roll for two months each, to be served concurrently from May 1, 2025, while his colleague Mathieu Roberge was fined a total of $17,500. 4,500 times in seven monthsIt is February 2021, one year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Basa is in charge of the Interim Federal Health Programme at his Brunet pharmacy in the Saint-Laurent district of Montreal, which he owns with his partner Roberge. At the time of the incident, between February and October 2021, the Basa and Roberge pharmacy had approximately 150 to 200 patients covered by the IFH program.During this period, the two pharmacists sold hand disinfectant gel to their covered patients while charging 95% ethanol to the IFH program. “The hand disinfectant, although containing ethanol, was not covered by the IFH, as this product does not have a DIN,” noted the Disciplinary Board in its decision. Regardless of the format of the hydroalcoholic gel given to the patient, the amount claimed from the third-party payer was always much higher, according to the trustee’s investigation.On 3,000 occasions, Basa passed off disinfectant hydroalcoholic gel as a 95% ethanol product from Croix-Bleue Medavie. Roberge performed the same operation 200 times. Total profit for the pharmacy: $115,000.“At the height of the period, more than 100 patients were being billed monthly by IFH for 95% ethanol,” the decision stated. But that's not all. Between April and October 2021, the two co-owners repeated the same manoeuvre with sun creams. Although they had given Neutrogena brand products to their patients, the pharmacists billed the IFH program for Anthelios sunscreens from La Roche-Posay. Not only were these products covered, but they were significantly more expensive than the products actually sold.This time, Basa made this substitution no fewer than 1,200 times and Roberge 50 times, “with full knowledge of the facts” noted the trustee, for a profit of $90,000. In total, the two pharmacist-owners made a profit of $205,000 from these illicit claims, while the trustee found no trace of any purchases of 95% ethanol or La Roche-Posay sunscreen made from the pharmacy's various wholesalers during the period of the complaint.'Well-honed modus operandi'In its decision, the OPQ's Disciplinary Board denounced the lack of honesty and integrity, as well as the laxity and serious nonchalance of the two pharmacist-owners in this case. In fact, the management of reimbursements by third-party payers depends on, “the integrity of pharmacists and the veracity of the information entered in claims for reimbursement,” it stated. In addition, these illegally billed services, “represented a significant source of income for the pharmacy during the pandemic.” The professional experience of the two pharmacists— registered with the OPQ in 2009 and 2006—and the voluntary nature of the fraud are aggravating factors, according to the Council, which explained that they, ‘exploited the weaknesses and loopholes of the IFHP programme in the context of a pandemic. Their approach was a well-honed modus operandi.”However, in view of the less serious nature of the acts of which he is accused, Roberge, unlike Basa, has not been temporarily struck off.“Although he did not commit as many illegal acts as the respondent, Mr. Basa, and he was not the person responsible for implementing the IFH program in his pharmacy, Roberge could not have been unaware that these acts were dishonest. He could not have been blind to them,” the decision said.The co-owners pleaded guilty, expressed regret, had no prior criminal record and immediately ceased the alleged acts as soon as the trustee’s investigation began, but the Disciplinary Board felt that the acts were sufficiently serious and undermined the integrity of the profession as a whole, as well as the relationship of trust with patients. “The obligation for a professional to act with integrity is directly linked to the credibility of the profession, especially when this lack of integrity concerns the public funds that finance public services,” the Board pointed out. The Council has agreed to defer enforcement of the temporary striking off of Basa to give him time to sell his shares: as he is no longer registered with the OPQ, he can no longer hold shares in his pharmacy.“Although he did not commit as many illegal acts as the respondent, Mr. Basa, and he was not the person responsible for implementing the IFH program in his pharmacy, Roberge could not have been unaware that these acts were dishonest. He could not have been blind to them,” the decision said.The co-owners pleaded guilty, expressed regret, had no prior criminal record and immediately ceased the alleged acts as soon as the trustee’s investigation began, but the Disciplinary Board felt that the acts were sufficiently serious and undermined the integrity of the profession as a whole, as well as the relationship of trust with patients. “The obligation for a professional to act with integrity is directly linked to the credibility of the profession, especially when this lack of integrity concerns the public funds that finance public services,” the Board pointed out. The Council has agreed to defer enforcement of the temporary striking off of Basa to give him time to sell his shares: as he is no longer registered with the OPQ, he can no longer hold shares in his pharmacy.

Two pharmacist-owners fined for illegally profiting during the pandemic

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