A pharmacist in Edmonds, Washington, was arrested this week after a customer called 911 because he was “completely slurring his words” and “falling over the counter.” Police found him with a pocketful of loose pills, which he told them he uses for anxiety. This wasn’t his first run-in with the law. But he’s still licensed, and could resume filling prescriptions today. Sure, Washington licenses pharmacists; but the health department says it can’t do anything. (Read story here.)
Whaaat???
This state of affairs is entirely consistent with my own experience as a state lawyer. For example, I remember meeting a “fat doctor” in a hearing many years ago who’d had his federal narcotics license yanked for overprescribing amphetamines (aka “speed”) to his patients. I’m not a doctor or pharmacist, but I guess that stuff melts fat away — it’s a fast-track to weight loss, or that’s my understanding. And this guy made a fortune by pumping addictive pills into people who forked over big bucks to slim them down and keep them high. The state considered him a charlatan, but made little or no effort to revoke his MD license. All they did was cite his professional misfeasance to discredit him as a witness in the hearing in question.
In short, although Washington has professional licensing laws, issues occupational licenses, and staffs a couple of licensing bureaucracies, this system is so toothless it essentially doesn’t mean a damn thing. Once a person is licensed, they stay licensed, even after going off the reservation like that Edmonds pharmacist did.
(It’s a little different with lawyers, because their licensing is under the jurisdiction of the State Supreme Court, not state bureaucrats, so they actually get disbarred for things like stealing clients’ money or felony drug possession, while lesser reprobates can get suspensions or letters of censure. The bar association has a functioning complaint and investigation system, and makes at least a half-assed effort to get seriously incapacitated lawyers out of active practice.)
One of the reforms America’s dysfunctional police profession desperately needs is an effective licensing system. Most states train and license police officers, and I think Washington does too, and in theory a rogue cop can be prevented from bouncing from one policy agency to another by pulling his license. But even though we’re inundated with rogue cops, I’ve never heard of this happening, and as far as I can tell all the existing systems for licensing cops are ineffectual and worthless. And the track record of occupational licensing generally doesn’t offer much encouragement.
Rogue pharmacists, rogue doctors, rogue cops — we’re apparently stuck with them unless our legislators can find the political will to reform our state licensing systems that are supposed to regulate and police the professions.