Pharmacist (73) jailed for fraud has registration cancelled

A pharmacist jailed for six months for defrauding the HSE of some €70,000 over a number of years has had her registration cancelled by order of the High Court.

Teresa Christina Crowley (73), from Main Street, Drimoleague, Co Cork, consented to the cancellation order sought by the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland.

She pleaded guilty last April to 21 sample counts of theft and fraud where she stole some €70,000 from the HSE in an elaborate plot involving falsifying drug payment scheme claims. A sentence of 2½ years was imposed of which all but six months was suspended.

At the High Court on Monday, a solicitor for the society said the cancellation of Ms Crowley’s registration was sought following an inquiry last December by its professional conduct committee. The inquiry came after a complaint by the society’s registrar following Ms Crowley’s conviction on 21 sample charges of deception by dishonesty and falsifying accounts.

Some 170 charges had been levelled against Ms Crowley following a Garda investigation arising from complaints by the HSE.

At the High Court on Monday, the society’s solicitor said that because of the “very serious” nature of the offences, the committee had recommended Ms Crowley’s registration as a pharmacist be cancelled. The society’s council agreed and wanted a court order confirming the cancellation.

‘Suffered greatly’

A solicitor representing Ms Crowley said she had “suffered greatly” throughout the garda investigation and also suffered monetarily. She was consenting to the cancellation but asked that costs of the application not be awarded against her, he said.

Ms Crowley had been very successful with a “huge practice” in two pharmacies, he said. She had been a “very well off” woman but “millions” were taken from her by the HSE and she was “certainly not that well off now”.

Some of the offences arose because Ms Crowley had provided drugs to persons who had been taken off such drugs by the HSE, the solicitor added.

She had not benefitted from that but she accepted what she did was wrong and she could not herself decide who should get drugs and who should not.

The society’s solicitor said it was entitled to the costs of the application.

The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, said the application arose as a result of Ms Crowley's conviction and the subsequent inquiry by the society.

It was “sad indeed” that such an order should be made against a 73-year-old woman who has been a pharmacists for a long time “but no other conclusion can be arrived at”, he said.

The judge added he was granting the costs of the application to the society because, while Ms Crowley “is not the wealthy woman she once was”, neither was there any “plea of penury” on her behalf.