Saskatoon pharmacist suspended for professional misconduct

A Saskatoon pharmacist has been suspended by his peers for professional misconduct and professional incompetence after he skirted rules and regulations to give himself more than 5,800 sleeping pills over the course of nearly three years.

Dr. Gregory Lazurko, 34, had his licence suspended for 30 days and is ordered to pay more than $22,000 in fines and costs after a discipline committee found Lazurko guilty of five charges, including prescribing and administering drugs to himself.

Lazurko, a licensed pharmacist at Werezak’s Pharmacy Ltd. in Saskatoon, was sentenced by the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals during a virtual hearing on Oct. 14.

The charges stem from a verbal prescription Lazurko received in August 2017 from an out-of-province relative for five milligrams of the sleeping aid Zopiclone, a drug used to treat difficulty sleeping. Lazurko was prescribed 60 pills with 11 refills. Without any authorization, Lazurko refilled the prescription 97 times for a total of 5,800 pills.

Lazurko then dispensed himself “large quantities” of Zopiclone and Quetiapine between July 2018 and April 13, 2020, without authorization from his doctor.

He also went against the prescription orders and dispensed double the amount before prescribing himself an additional 120 tablets less than two weeks later.

“Once the prescription was out of refills, Mr. Lazurko took other actions. On occasion, he would override the prescription and continue filling it. On other occasions, Mr. Lazurko would create a new prescription showing himself as the prescriber,” Michael Davis, the chairperson of the discipline committee, said in his decision.

Upon review, Chantal Lambert, the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals’ assistant registrar and complaints director, found Lazurko’s prescribing doctor had an inactive licence with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan as of Dec. 1, 2019.

The misconduct was originally discovered after Zopiclone was added to the Prescription Review Program (PRP) in February of 2020.

The review program was established to monitor inappropriate prescribing of monitored prescription drugs that have been subject to misuse and abuse.

The PRP, made up of the regulatory bodies of Saskatchewan pharmacists, dentists, physicians and nurses, is mandated to report to the necessary regulatory body where practices “may not be consistent with professional standards.”

Lambert received an email from a PRP analyst alerting her of Lazurko dispensing the sleeping aid last April after Zopiclone was added to the program.

A submission from complaints committee counsel Darcia Schirr agreed the penalty met the goals of maintaining public confidence, deterrence and improved confidence.

“In her submission, (Schirr) indicated that had Zopiclone not been added to the PRP list in February 2020, Mr. Lazurko’s self-prescribing and self-dispensing likely would have gone undetected,” a section of Davis’ decision read.

“The Discipline Committee considers his conduct both concerning and dangerous and to have fallen below the standard expected for the profession.”

Lazurko’s lawyer, Lisa Watson, provided background information, stating Lazurko “is incredibly remorseful and embarrassed, and has taken full responsibility of his actions.”

Lazurko has been struggling with sleep issues for 18 years and had recently experienced the death of his father and other “significant personal stresses.”

He also suffers from chronic insomnia and benzodiazepine tolerance, with an addiction level assessed as “low risk” not impacting his ability to do his job.

Lazurko’s licence was suspended for 30 days. He will have to complete an ethics course and is banned from dispensing benzodiazepines to himself.

For two years, Lazurko will have to provide updates on his treatment regime.

Lazurko was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine by Oct. 31 of last year and an additional $17,230 for the costs of the investigation and hearing by Nov. 1 of this year.