CHEMIST 'UNINTENTIONALLY' SOLD 11,000 BOXES OF DECONGESTANT

Judging by the amount of Sudafed that chemist Samir Ibrahim was selling
from his Merrylands Road pharmacy, the people of Merrylands must have been
very sick indeed.

As it turns out, they weren't.

Earlier this month, the Pharmacy Board of NSW fined and severely
reprimanded Mr Ibrahim for selling more than 11,000 packets of Sudafed and
similar decongestants - containing pseudoephedrine - in just over a year.

Pseudoephedrine is the critical ingredient in methylamphetamine, better
known as the illegal drug speed.

The board was told by police that just one packet of Sudafed 90s could, in
the wrong hands, be turned into speed with a street value of about $6,000.

Mr Ibrahim is one of a small number of chemists who have found themselves
caught up in a police and Pharmacy Board crackdown on the oversupply of
Sudafed-type drugs which have increasingly turned up in illegal laboratories.

The board found that in 14 months during 1998-99, he sold 7,981 packs of
the 90-tablet size Sudafed, 2,105 packs of Sudafed 60s, 333 packs of
Sudafed 30s and 864 packs of 60-tablet sized Chemists' Own.

The retail value was about $180,000.

Giving evidence to a Pharmacy Board inquiry, chemist Mr Peter O'Reilly
said: "I just can't see how people in Merrylands could be so sick."

Mr Ibrahim had been the sole proprietor of the business known as Cooper's
Pharmacy Merrylands, and had "permitted his assistants to supply most of
the 11,000 packs of pseudoephedrine which were sold to the public".

Mr Ibrahim said in evidence he was not aware it was being used for illicit
purposes.

The inquiry's report said: "The board has serious doubts about Mr Ibrahim's
assertion that he did not know that pseudoephedrine could be used for
illicit purposes. His answers in cross examination were evasive and
self-serving.

"Of significant concern to the board is Mr Ibrahim's behaviour during
August 1999 when he purchased 864 packets of Stephen Hunter Chemists' Own
brand pseudoephedrine tablets 60s. He sold this quantity within 20 working
days and agreed that the sales equated to 43 packs per day."

In addition, he had tried to order another "two gross plus one gross bonus"
of the same brand.

While he had described his behaviour to the inquiry as an "unintentional
and honest mistake" and expressed regret, he had also sought to shift
responsibility to his staff.

Fining him $4,400, the board said: "Mr Ibrahim sold enormous quantities of
pseudoephedrine. He did not know the bulk of the customers, nor did he
observe the bulk of the sales.

"The sheer quantity of sales ... indicates a practice of deliberate
dereliction of his professional responsibilities, in addition to the very
serious possible damage to the public."

He was found guilty of professional misconduct and ordered not to practice
except under the supervision of another pharmacist approved by the board.