3 Vancouver pharmacists ordered not to provide ‘safe supply’ pending investigation outcome [Video]

Three Vancouver pharmacists have been ordered not to provide patients “safe supply” medications pending the outcome of an investigation prompted by complaints about the provision of opioid treatment services at a pair of East Vancouver pharmacies.

B.C.’s College of Pharmacists took the extraordinary step of announcing interim measures against Charanjit Pal, Jennifer Van Bui and Mamteshwari Ravnita Latchman this week. In a related case, the regulator also announced the suspension of a fourth pharmacist — Karandeep Singh Chohan.

Chohan — whose suspension is set to begin May 27 — is the former manager of Fraser Outreach Pharmacy, where Bui and Latchman worked as staff pharmacists. Pal — whose suspension begins May 12 — is the manager of Fraser Neighbourhood Pharmacy, a few blocks away.

The college claims health-care providers voiced concerns last spring about the pharmacies’ handling of Opioid Agonist Treatment — the use of medications like methadone to manage opioid withdrawal symptoms.

The complaints allegedly prompted on-site inspections at both pharmacies.

According to the college, the …