Erdeljohn v. Ohio State Bd. of Pharmacy

526 N.E.2d 117, 38 Ohio Misc. 2d 1, 1987 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 178
CourtCourt of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County
DecidedApril 30, 1987
DocketNo. A-86-05781
StatusPublished

This text of 526 N.E.2d 117 (Erdeljohn v. Ohio State Bd. of Pharmacy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Erdeljohn v. Ohio State Bd. of Pharmacy, 526 N.E.2d 117, 38 Ohio Misc. 2d 1, 1987 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 178 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1987).

Opinion

Crush, J.

This matter is before the court upon an appeal from an order dated July 14,1986, of the State Board of Pharmacy, suspending appellant’s pharmacist identification card and fining him $2,500.

The findings upon which the suspension and fine were based are, briefly stated, as follows:

(1) That appellant, Daniel E. Er-deljohn, as the responsible pharmacist, was responsible for Alexanders Pharmacy’s selling misbranded drugs on four occasions between March 26,1984 and May 8, 1984;

(2) That appellant, as the responsible pharmacist, was responsible for Alexanders Pharmacy’s selling fifty cycles of Lo-Ovral-28, a misbranded drug, on April 4, 1983;

(3) That appellant, as the responsible pharmacist, was responsible for Alexanders Pharmacy’s selling twenty-five cycles of Norinyl, a misbranded drug, on December 6, 1983; and

(4) That appellant personally sold, or aided and abetted other pharmacists in selling, 1692 tablets of Obetrol, without written or other prescriptions, on various occasions between May 10,1984 and December 12, 1984.

[2]*2Appellant raises several issues.

VAGUENESS OF STANDARDS

The pharmacy board found that appellant’s actions constituted dishonesty and unprofessional conduct. R.C. 4729.16(A)(2) provides that a pharmacist’s identification card may be suspended if he is “guilty of dishonesty or unprofessional conduct in the practice of pharmacy.” Appellant argues that “unprofessional conduct” (and “gross immorality” in the same section of the code) are vague standards and, thus, unconstitutional.

Persuasive on this issue, in the opinion of the court, is Ohio State Bd. of Pharmacy v. Lewandowski (Aug. 17, 1984), Lucas App. No. L-84-072, unreported. Lewandowski, in turn, quotes Lies v. Veterinary Medical Bd. (1981), 2 Ohio App. 3d 204, 208-209, 2 OBR 223, 228, 441 N.E. 2d 584, 589-590, as follows:

“ ‘We believe that when an applicant may practice a profession only after he * * * qualifies and is licensed under a set of standards * * *, phrases that in other contexts may be vague * * * acquire a certainty that is, prima facie, sufficient to advise the practitioner about what conduct is forbidden.’ ”

Lewandowski reviews a number of similar phrases pertaining, by statute, to various professions: “gross incompetency,” “incompetency,” “unfit,” and “immoral or unprofessional conduct.” Lewandowski considers such phrases as passing constitutional muster; and as some of the phrases are identical to those at issue in this matter, this court believes that R.C. 4729.16 is not vague, but is, in fact, constitutional.

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

Appellant argues that the proceedings here should be barred because of the limitations period applicable to prosecution of criminal misdemeanors. Appellant concedes that there is no statutory limitation period pertaining to these proceedings, but requests the court to infer, and thus, to create one.

No authority has been cited, nor does the court find any, which authorizes the court to create a statute of limitations. Such matters are legislative, not judicial. It is informative to note that the legislature has, in some instances, created two statutes of limitation — one civil, one criminal — with different limitations periods: e.g., assault. The court finds appellant’s argument on this point without merit.

SEARCH AND SEIZURE

The court finds that all searches and seizures involved here were with consent of the appellant and statutorily justified. The court finds no error here.

SCOPE OF REVIEW

It is undisputed that the relevant scope of review by this court is whether the board’s findings are “supported by reliable, probative, and substantial evidence and [are] in accordance with law.” R.C. 119.12.

HEARSAY

The most difficult part of this appeal pertains to hearsay testimony. The entire transcript is replete with hearsay and inferences upon hearsay or other inferences:

(1) Fourth charge (sale of Obe-trol). This charge is based upon (a) an anonymous letter, not produced at the hearing, which allegedly was “aimed at” Daniel Erdeljohn and allegedly stated that a sample audit “may turn up some facts”; (b) the fact that the Obetrol records at the pharmacy were disorganized; and (c) the fact that about 1600 Obetrol tablets were missing.

Appellant testified that he never dispensed Obetrol without a prescription and had no reason to believe that anyone else in the store did so; that [3]*3several subjects could have stolen Obetrol because of access to the area where it was kept; that a named individual who had a grudge against him made threats against him; that, in his opinion, he knew who typed the anonymous letters, to wit: a man he had accused of stealing. There was testimony that there is, generally, a “lot of theft” of drugs by people with access to them. No direct evidence was presented that appellant dispensed Obetrol without a prescription.

(2) Third charge (sale of Norinyl). This charge is based upon the fact that Norinyl was dispensed by the pharmacy (not improperly packaged); that a Mr. Mlinar, president of Tri-State Pharmaceutical, was reported to have allegedly stated that his company sold birth control products only as samples or clinic packs, and that appellant had altered their appearance to conceal their nature as samples and clinic packs; that Mlinar was reported to have allegedly stated that he had advised the pharmacy prior to sale that the shipment would be of mislabeled clinic packs or samples; and that appellant admitted that he saw some Norinyl in the pharmacy supplies, the packages of which had been altered or whited out or scratched.

Appellant denied dispensing anything that was so marked.

There is no direct evidence as to how many samples or clinic packages the pharmacy had, or whether any had been, in fact, dispensed.

(3) Second charge (sale of Lo-Ov-ral 28). The statements as to the third charge basically apply here.

(4) First charge (sale of mis-branded drugs). The statements as to the second and third charges apply here.

In brief, the only direct evidence of any of the charges is that there was a quantity of Obetrol not accounted for at the pharmacy, and that appellant had seen in the pharmacy some packets of drugs that had markings on them as sample or clinic packets; but neither the number of packets nor what was done with them was established.

Obviously, if hearsay is not permitted before the pharmacy board, then none of the charges has been proven.

Hearsay is clearly admissible at administrative hearings:

“Appellee filed a claim for unemployment compensation benefits. * * * The referee affirmed the administrator’s denial of benefits * * *.
“Further appeal to the Board of Review was disallowed and the claimant appealed to the Common Pleas Court * * *.
“* * * [E]vidence which might constitute inadmissible hearsay where stringent rules of evidence are followed must be taken into account * * * where relaxed rules of evidence are applied. * * *” Simon v. Lake Geauga Printing Co. (1982), 69 Ohio St. 2d 41, 42, 44, 23 O.O. 3d 57, 58, 59, 430 N.E. 2d 468, 469, 470.

The Simon

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Haley v. Ohio State Dental Board
453 N.E.2d 1262 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1982)
Lies v. Ohio Veterinary Medical Board
441 N.E.2d 584 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1981)
Ohio State Medical Board v. Zwick
392 N.E.2d 1276 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1978)
Simon v. Lake Geauga Printing Co.
430 N.E.2d 468 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
526 N.E.2d 117, 38 Ohio Misc. 2d 1, 1987 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/erdeljohn-v-ohio-state-bd-of-pharmacy-ohctcomplhamilt-1987.