Pennsylvania State Board of Pharmacy v. Pastor

39 Pa. D. & C.2d 641, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 342
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County
DecidedApril 21, 1966
Docketno. 224
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 39 Pa. D. & C.2d 641 (Pennsylvania State Board of Pharmacy v. Pastor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pennsylvania State Board of Pharmacy v. Pastor, 39 Pa. D. & C.2d 641, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 342 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1966).

Opinion

Lipsitt, J.,

This proceeding is an appeal from an adjudication and order of the Pennsylvania State Board of Pharmacy (hereinafter called “board” or “Commonwealth”), dated April 12, 1965, revoking the license of appellant, Edward Robert Pastor (hereinafter called “Pastor” or “appellant”), to practice the profession of pharmacy in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

[642]*642The following facts, which are substantially the same as the board’s findings, were adduced at a hearing held by the board on December 9, 1964, pursuant to a citation issued against Pastor. Pastor is a registered pharmacist whose license was issued on June 26, 1941. On or about June 23, 1964, he caused a newspaper advertisement to appear in the Camden Courier, a newspaper of general circulation; the advertisement covered approximately one-half page and contained a list of items identified as Peritrate, Miltown, Diuril, Serpasil, Elavil, etc., with prices for a specific number of capsules or tablets. Pastor was the pharmacist-manager of the Park and Lock Drugs, Inc., of Philadelphia, Pa., and was solely responsible for placing this advertisement on behalf of said company. The Courier, published in New Jersey, was distributed in Philadelphia, Pa., at least from the newsstands.

On July 9, 1964, the board imposed on Pastor a three-day suspension from engaging in the practice of pharmacy from August 1, 1964, to August 3, 1964, inclusive. This suspension was based upon a prior advertisement which had been inserted in the Philadelphia Inquirer. On August 1, 1964, he was observed by an investigator for the board working in the preparation and dispensing area of the Park and Lock Drugs, Inc., store.

The citation charged Pastor with two violations under the Pharmacy Act of September 27, 1961, P. L. 1700, 63 PS §390, as follows: (1) In promoting by advertising in a newspaper of general circulation, dangerous drugs and/or narcotics by name and prices to the public, and (2) engaging in the practice of pharmacy while under suspension.

It is noted that in the findings of fact by the board, it was stated that Pastor was working in the preparation and dispensing area of said store, “where he was observed filling prescriptions and carrying on [643]*643trade with prescription customers”. However, there was no conclusion of law relating to this violation. The only pertinent conclusion stated that “Respondent, Edward Robert Pastor, by placing the ad in the June 23,1964, issue of the Camden Courier, violated Section 5(a) (6) and Section 8(11) of the Pharmacy Act, the Act of September 27, 1961, P. L. 1700”. The order of the board reads that “pharmacist’s license issued to Edward Robert Pastor is hereby revoked . . . for violation of Sections 5(a) (6) and 8(11) of the Pharmacy Act. . . .”

Section 5(a) (6), 63 PS §390-5, of the Pharmacy Act provides:

“(a) The board shall have the power to revoke or suspend the license of any pharmacist upon proof satisfactory to it that: . . .

“(6) He has violated or permitted the violation of any provision of this act or regulation of the board;

Section 8(11), 63 PS §390-8 of the Pharmacy Act provides:

“It shall be unlawful for: . . .

“(11) Any pharmacist or owner of a pharmacy advertising or promoting dangerous drugs, narcotics or drugs containing either by name or prices therefor to the general public”.

Because the conclusions of law and the order of the board, as well as Commonwealth’s brief, make no references to the charge of engaging in the practice of pharmacy while under suspension, no consideration need be given to the question whether satisfactory evidence was presented to show that drugs were actually dispensed during the suspension period.

Appellant has set forth two propositions which the court has considered:

(1) That section 8(11) of the Pharmacy Act of 1961 is unconstitutional in that it violates article I, [644]*644sec. 9, of the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, in that it deprives Pastor of his property and right to conduct his business without due process of law.

(2) That there was insufficient evidence before the board to prove the items advertised were drugs of such a nature so as to fall within the purview of said section 8(11) of the Pharmacy Act.

The principal contention relates to the question of the constitutionality of the act. Appellant recognizes the principle that it is an important function of government to exercise the police power to preserve public health, safety and morals, and to accomplish this purpose, the legislature may limit the enjoyment of personal liberty and property. He cites several Pennsylvania cases where the Supreme Court has proclaimed that a law which purports to be an exercise of the police power must not be unreasonable, unduly oppressive, or patently beyond the necessities of the case, and the means which it employs must have a real and substantial relation to the objects sought to be obtained. In Gambone v. Commonwealth, 375 Pa. 547 (1954), an act regulating the size of signs used to advertise the price of liquid fuels in gasoline stations was held void. In Cott Beverage Corporation v. Horst, 380 Pa. 113 (1955), the court declared unconstitutional an act prohibiting the use of Sucaryl as a sweetening agent. In Commonwealth ex rel. Woodside v. Sun Ray Drug Company, 383 Pa. 1 (1955), where defendant was enjoined from selling milkshakes with ice milk on the ground it violated the Pennsylvania Ice Cream Law by selling an inferior simulation of ice cream, the court held the sales of the drink did not constitute a violation of the statute and that competition cannot be stifled through an exercise of the police power except where it is in the public interest.

The Commonwealth directs attention to the case of [645]*645Ullom v. Boehm, 392 Pa. 643 (1958), in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court refused to strike as unconstitutional a 1956 statutory amendment prohibiting the advertising of prices of products used for ophthalmic purposes. The court regarded the regulation of such wares as a valid exercise of police power because the welfare of the people would be “. . . served by removing from dealers the temptation to sell to the public, eye-damaging glasses in order to adhere to an arbitrary established reduced budget”, (page 648).

Appellant attempts to distinguish Ullom from the instant case by asserting there can be no possible danger to the public in permitting the advertisement of drugs, as the pharmacist has no discretion in the quality of the drug he passes on to the public and no discretion as to what specific drug he dispenses, because it is the physician who prescribes the drugs and the drug companies who manufacture them. He reasons that the pharmacist merely gives to the public what is called for by the physician and manufactured by the company; by advertising his prices, the public can only benefit and there is no danger of harm.

Although this is apparently a question of first impression in the field of pharmacy, it would seem, in light of the prevailing moral and social ills which beset a segment of our population, the argument of Pastor is somewhat hollow.

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Related

Pennsylvania State Board of Pharmacy v. Pastor
247 A.2d 651 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
39 Pa. D. & C.2d 641, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 342, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pennsylvania-state-board-of-pharmacy-v-pastor-pactcompldauphi-1966.