Pharmacy Connection, Nov/Dec 2002

The College has introduced a process known as the Pre-Hearing Conference in an effort to increase the efficiency of the discipline process.
Offered to every member facing disciplinary proceedings, the Pre-Hearing Conference is a meeting held in advance of any discipline hearing between College representatives and the member and his/her legal counsel. Also in attendance is an Officer, selected by the Chair of the Discipline Committee, to preside over the conference. As an experienced member of the Discipline Committee, the Officer’s role is to assist the parties in reaching a resolution on any or all issues involved in the case as well as to prepare for the hearing. (All disciplinary cases result in a formal hearing that is open to the public.)

The pre-hearing process provides the member with the opportunity to be presented with the case the College has prepared (usually by legal counsel), and to hear the assessment of the Officer in a timely fashion.

(These conferences are completely confidential. Nothing that the member says or does at these meetings can be shared or used at the discipline hearing without their consent — nor can any of these discussions be used against the member in his/her case.)

Prior to the Pre-Hearing Conference
The member is first provided with all documents related to the case in the College’s possession. This is also the time when any discussions regarding other information, such as further disclosure, clarification about the facts or the discipline process, are held.

The Pre-Hearing Conference
At the Conference, all parties (member, College and Officer) meet to hear each other’s perspectives on the case. At this time, the Officer will also provide his/her input by assessing the College’s case and by providing an opinion as to whether a Panel of the Discipline Committee would likely render a decision with a finding of professional misconduct.

Exclusion of the Chair from the Panel
Regardless of whether the case will be contested or not, the Officer (who attended the Pre-Hearing Conference) is precluded from sitting on the Panel that will hear the member’s case.

When All Parties Agree
In the event that there is an agreement to the facts and the member admits that these constitute professional misconduct, the parties will able to discuss appropriate penalties. The Officer may also be asked to comment on whether the penalty sought by the College would likely be accepted by the Panel. (The Officer may also provide his/her thoughts as to the penalty that the Panel would likely order in the event that the member chooses to contest the recommended penalty.)

Discipline Hearing
The Pre-Hearing Conference has proven to be an excellent method for bringing cases forward and exploring suitable resolution opportunities in advance of discipline hearings. As a result, most hearings at the College are uncontested and, therefore, proceed to an Agreed Statement of Facts and Joint Submission on Penalty that has been negotiated, and agreed to, by all parties.
The Agreed Statement of Facts is a joint statement of the facts that the parties agree upon and an acknowledgement by the member that his/her acts amounted to professional misconduct. This means that, because the member has acknowledged professional misconduct, the Panel is not required to hear and assess evidence to reach a finding of professional misconduct. (The Panel will hold a hearing to review all evidence, receive testimony, and to deliberate and render its decision in the event that an Agreed Statement of Facts was not reached.)
Similarly, a Joint Submission on Penalty — a negotiated agreement between the parties on a suitable penalty for the case — is also often presented to the Panel. When this occurs, the College and the member jointly request the Panel to accept the proposed penalty. The Panel will grant the order sought — as long as the proposed penalty is fair, reasonable, and within the range of acceptable penalties.

Contesting the Sought Penalty
If, however, the member agrees with the College about the facts but cannot agree with the penalty sought by the College, the College and the member will both then need to present their proposed penalties to the Panel. The Panel would then determine the penalty to be imposed.

Our Goal
The College’s goal is to develop a speedy, fair and appropriate resolution process for all discipline matters. This allows the member to plead their case, receive a promptly rendered decision, be sanctioned, engage in remediation and then resume their practice in a shorter time period.
In effect, our introduction of the pre-hearing process will speed up the current disciplinary process so, once the College’s backlog of cases have been completed (over the next few months), it will take the College a number of months, rather than years, to review and complete each discipline case from start to finish.
Expediting the process serves the interests of both members and the public. Members will be able to correct practice deficits and return to practice as soon as possible. The public will be better served by being able to receive more timely decisions and outcomes on each discipline case. Finally, it will also allow the College to administer is processes more efficiently.