Sobel v. Board of Pharmacy

882 P.2d 606, 130 Or. App. 374, 1994 Ore. App. LEXIS 1432
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedSeptember 28, 1994
Docket111-90; CA A68878
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 882 P.2d 606 (Sobel v. Board of Pharmacy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sobel v. Board of Pharmacy, 882 P.2d 606, 130 Or. App. 374, 1994 Ore. App. LEXIS 1432 (Or. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinions

[376]*376LEESON, J.

Petitioner seeks review of an order of the Board of Pharmacy (Board), contending that the Board erred in refusing to grant him a pharmaceutical license by reciprocity. We affirm.

To obtain a pharmacist license by reciprocity, an applicant must:

“(a) Have submitted a written application in the form prescribed by the board.
“(b) Have attained the age of 18 years.
“(c) Have good moral character and temperate habits.
“(d) Have possessed at the time of initial licensure as a pharmacist such other qualifications necessary to have been eligible for licensure at that time in this state.
“(e) Have engaged in the practice of pharmacy for a period of at least one year or have met the internship requirements of this state within the one-year period immediately previous to the date of such application.
“(f) Have presented to the board proof of initial licensure by examination and proof that such license and any other license or licenses granted to the applicant by any other state or states have not been suspended, revoked, canceled or otherwise restricted for any reason except nonrenewal or the failure to obtain required continuing education credits in any state where the applicant is licensed but not engaged in the practice of pharmacy.
“(g) Have successfully passed an examination in jurisprudence given by the board.
“(h) Have paid the fees specified by the board for issuance of a license.” ORS 689.265.

ORS 689.405(1) sets forth the general bases for discipline of a pharmacist, and also provides:

“The State Board of Pharmacy may refuse to issue * * * the licenses of any person * * * upon one or more of the following grounds:
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“(f) Fraud or intentional misrepresentation by a licensee or registrant in securing or attempting to secure the issuance or renewal of a license.”

[377]*377An action taken by the Board pursuant to ORS 698.405(1) “shall be considered a contested case under ORS 183.310 to 183.550,” the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). ORS 689.405(2).

In August, 1989, petitioner applied to the Board for licensure by reciprocity.1 ORS 689.265. In the section of the application entitled, “Record of Charges, Convictions, and Fines Imposed on Applicant,” petitioner stated:

“I have not been convicted, fined, disciplined or had my license revoked for violation of pharmacy, liquor or drug laws, nor am I presently charged with any such violations. I have not been convicted of any felony, nor am I presently charged with the commission of a felony.”

A Board investigation revealed that 18 months earlier, on February 23, 1988, the Texas State Board of Pharmacy had entered an “Agreed Board Order,” signed by petitioner and his attorney, that disciplined petitioner for violations of the Texas Pharmacy Act and imposed a fine of $1,250. The Board’s investigation also revealed a November 7, 1972, report from the Texas Department of Public Safety that documented petitioner’s suspensions from pharmaceutical practice for violations of law.2

[378]*378The hearings officer’s findings included the following:3

“8. Based upon a standard of a preponderance of the evidence, when [petitioner] certified in his application to the Oregon State Board of Pharmacy, under oath, that he had not been convicted, fined or disciplined or had his license revoked for violation of pharmacy, liquor or drug laws, the evidence established that he intentionally misrepresented facts clearly known to him because:
“a) [Petitioner’s] testimony that he did not know of the 1972 suspension of his license and pharmacy permit and that he did not read the Stipulated Order he signed before the Texas State Board of Pharmacy in 1988, is not persuasive or credible based upon a preponderance of the evidence in this casé, including an assessment of licensee’s demeanor at hearing;
“b) [Petitioner] is not credible when he testified that he believed the 1988 Texas board order was expunged and that he did not know there were charges against him or fines paid;
“c) With reasonable diligence, [petitioner] could have ascertained that his sworn statement to his application for licensure of no prior convictions, fines or disciplinary revocation of his license was not true, and further that he had no reasonable basis to believe the statement to be true.”

The hearings officer concluded that petitioner’s application for licensure as a pharmacist in Oregon by reciprocity should be denied under ORS 689.405(l)(f).

[379]*379On review, petitioner assigns multiple errors to the Board’s order that adopted the hearings officer’s recommended order. We address only his contention that the Board erred in using a preponderance of the evidence standard when it concluded that he had committed fraud or intentional misrepresentation in his application.

Petitioner contends that, like common law fraud, the statutory violation must be shown by clear and convincing evidence. The state responds that the preponderance of the evidence standard is appropriate and applicable because this is a proceeding under the APA.

The APA does not expressly prescribe a standard of proof applicable to administrative proceedings. However, we have held that in an administrative hearing the burden of proof “is by a preponderance of the evidence in the absence of some legislative adoption of a different standard.” Metcalf v. AFSD, 65 Or App 761, 765, 672 P2d 379 (1983), rev den 296 Or 411 (1984). Petitioner concedes that there is no statutory authority for a clear and convincing standard of proof in a Board of Pharmacy case, but, citing Riley Hill General Contractor v. Tandy Corp., 303 Or 390, 407, 737 P2d 595 (1987), contends that fraud or intentional misrepresentation must be proved by clear and convincing evidence. Petitioner’s reliance on Riley Hill General Contractor v. Tandy Corp. is misplaced, because that case only articulated the standard of proof that is applicable in a common law civil action for deceit. The court was free to decide the appropriate standard of proof as a matter of common law, because that case did not arise under the APA.

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Sobel v. Board of Pharmacy
882 P.2d 606 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
882 P.2d 606, 130 Or. App. 374, 1994 Ore. App. LEXIS 1432, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sobel-v-board-of-pharmacy-orctapp-1994.