(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . This is why we bother [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-14 Not your typical visit to the pharmacy. Caution: Story mentions sexual assault. I live in a town of about 22,000 residents. Early last spring, I went to one of the local chain pharmacies to get my second Covid booster. I had not been to this pharmacy for any of my Covid vaccinations, but it was the local pharmacy I could get into most quickly. After waiting five or so minutes, the pharmacist led me into a small, partitioned cubicle. I removed my coat and long-sleeve shirt and sat in the chair. I rolled up my left short sleeve. Prior to administering the vaccine, the pharmacist moved both of his hands down my left arm. As he moved down my arm, he rubbed his left pinkie across my nipple. He moved his hands back up and then down again, nudging my breast with the back of his fingers. He administered the vaccination and moved his hands down my arm again, once again nudging my breast with his fingers. I was shocked. I am a licensed mental health counselor. I have worked with many people who have had similar (and far more egregious violations) happen to them. I’ve been extensively trained in working with clients who have been physically/sexually violated. I imagined that I would have yelled at him and punched him and made a big scene, at the very least. Instead, I remained frozen, silent. I was told to take a seat in the waiting area and to remain there for five minutes before I could reclaim my proof-of-Covid-vaccinations card. I don’t remember really thinking anything as I sat there. I just wanted to get out of there. After five minutes, the pharmacist came to the counter with my card, which I promptly took and went home. I felt a heaviness in my chest. I kept replaying the scene in my head. I started to feel shame. It came and went, as I repeatedly told myself that the shame I was feeling was not mine; it belonged to the pharmacist. That day was a very long day. I tried to distract myself. As a side gig, I teach an online Introduction to Psychology class and that was the day of the week that I usually graded and prepped. I was grateful for the distraction but felt a bit bad that the students likely got subpar materials that week. By the end of the day, I knew I had to do something. I had no idea what to do. It was the following day that I shared with someone what had happened. And the day after that, I told more people, including my two older teenage children. Folks were appalled. They were in disbelief, not that it actually happened but that it happened here, in our town, in a pharmacy in the center of town that we have all been to many times. What I had learned in my training as a counselor, though, is that no one should really have been surprised and that it was likely that I was not the first and likely would not be the last. I thought about my teenage daughter and her friends. But what to do? I thought about making a complaint to the chain, but it felt insufficient. Would my complaint ever make it past the complaint department at this conglomerate? If it did, where would it land and how seriously would they take it? A few days passed as I considered my options. What options? In the past, I had worked as a counselor at the university in a nearby town. I thought about my training as a Title IX coordinator. There was a sexual assault response organization that hosted or participated in many of the trainings. I imagined that they were used to more extreme assaults, but maybe they could still help me somehow. I called them. This led me to filing a complaint with the state pharmacy board. Although I anticipated that it would ultimately come down to “she said/he said,” I was not deterred. While the folks with whom I shared my story were very supportive of me, many asked “Why bother?” I felt it was important to get my complaint on record. I was sure there would be a next time, that someday, someone would file another complaint. As part of the state pharmacy board complaint process, the pharmacist responded in writing to my complaint. His denials reinforced my expectation that this would be a case of “she said/he said.” I met with and spoke to the pharmacy board investigator (PBI) and the assistant attorney general (AAG) many times over the last ten months. They always treated me respectfully and seemed to take my complaint seriously. They kept me informed about the process and the steps they were taking in their investigation, but I was not privy to what the investigation was yielding. They were clear that the investigation may result in a dismissal of the complaint or a fine or a suspended license or revocation of his license. I just wanted to get the complaint on record. Upon completion of the investigation, the AAG presented the complaint, findings and recommendation to the pharmacy board earlier this month. These are my takeaways from the presentation: The pharmacy chain was stingy with the records subpoenaed by the AAG, claiming privileges from disclosure, and this is still unresolved. The pharmacy submitted to investigators its initial file, which documented three disciplinary incidents against the pharmacist. The first was in 2021 for failing to secure the safe in the pharmacy. The second, also in 2021, was for improperly reconstituting the Covid vaccine. The pharmacist administered the improperly reconstituted vaccine to 130 patients over the span of four days. There now seems to be an ongoing investigation into how that was handled by the pharmacy. The third documented disciplinary action was for giving patients medication in vials with no labels and/or leaflets. This occurred in May 2022. The pharmacist had been coached on that issue in the past, and he was fired a few months later. A second records request yielded an incident more germane to my complaint. It included a written statement by the pharmacist at the time of the first disciplinary incident, failing to secure the safe. The written statement also made vague references to his behaviors toward a pharmacy tech with whom he had worked. The PBI/AAG tracked down and interviewed the pharmacy tech and six witnesses. The pharmacist had subjected the pharmacy tech to repeated sexual touching and sexual propositions so regularly that she filed a complaint with the pharmacy. It was determined by the pharmacy that there was nothing to her complaint, and no action was taken against the pharmacist. She ultimately left the pharmacy to work elsewhere. There now seems to be an ongoing investigation into how the pharmacy handled the sexual harassment complaint. Based on the findings during the investigation, the AAG believed, per state statute, that the pharmacist engaged in unprofessional conduct as it related to my complaint and his behavior toward the pharmacy tech. The AAG also believed that the pharmacist engaged in unprofessional conduct as it related to the improper reconstitution and administration of the Covid vaccination and his failure to address the potential harm to the patients receiving those vaccinations. The AAG recommended to the board that they revoke the pharmacist’s license. I sat there. Stunned. A motion was made by a pharmacy board member to revoke his license. The motion was seconded. All pharmacy board members voted to revoke his license. My teenagers think I’m a rock star, or maybe hip-hop star. In the evening after the pharmacy board presentation, I was driving my son across town to hang out with his friends. I shared with him the findings and outcome of the investigation. He high-fived me. As he was getting out of the car, he asked me if he could share the story with his friends. “Yes, please do,” I told him. THIS is why we bother. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/14/2152492/-This-is-why-we-bother Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/