Johnny Huynh reprimanded for professional misconduct as pharmacist

A veteran pharmacist who was convicted of fraud has been reprimanded for professional misconduct.

Johnny Huynh was convicted of fraud.

A veteran pharmacist who was convicted of fraud for forging a valium prescription for his business partner and later forging a sedative prescription, has been reprimanded for professional misconduct.

Johnny Huynh, who has worked as a locum around Brisbane as well as a pharmacy manager in Belmont in Brisbane’s south, was found to have acted dishonestly and unethically over two days in November 2019, according to disciplinary decision handed down by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

In the decision handed down on November 12 last year but published this week, QCAT Judicial Member John Robertson described Huynh’s offending as “brazen” but amateurish and inevitable that his crimes would be discovered.

“The conduct here is serious as it strikes at the heart of the public expectation, amplified by the law and the provisions of the relevant codes and standards, that health practitioners should act honestly and obey the law,” the decision states.

Huynh told the tribunal that his conduct amounts to professional misconduct.

He said he was obtaining the drugs valium and Normaxin - a sedative commonly used for irritable bowel syndrome - for his partner in the music retail business.

“The music business was in dire financial difficulties,” the decision states.

Huynh, who has had a long career since starting in 2004, told the tribunal that both he and his music partner were “suffering anxiety and sleep deprivation as a result”.

Pharmacist Johnny Huynh. Picture: LinkedIn

On November 25, when he was working as a locum pharmacist at a Brisbane chemist, he forged a prescription for two boxes of Valium five milligrams (100 tablets) under the name of his music partner.

He dispensed the drugs to himself and paid $15 for them using his credit card.

He was charged with one count of fraud, uttering and dishonesty in August 2021.

The next day, he forged a prescription for one box of Normaxin 10 milligram (25 tablets) and paid $5 for the pills using his credit card.

In August 2021 he was charged by police with three separate offences of forgery, uttering and fraud.

On November 10, 2021 he pleaded guilty to the four charges in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court and was fined $1800 with no conviction recorded.

The following year his registration as a pharmacist lapsed and he did not renew it, so he remains unregistered.

He has now been out of practice for over three years.

QCAT found Huynh guilty of professional misconduct in relation to this criminal offending.

He was also found guilty of unprofessional misconduct in relation to failing to tell the Pharmacy Board of Australia (PBA) about his criminal charges and his guilty plea in the Magistrates Court.

His lawyers ultimately told the PBA about his guilty plea in February 2022.

Huynh, who had an otherwise unblemished work history, admitted all his conduct in the tribunal, and admitted breaching the Criminal Code, the PBA’s code of conduct and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s code of ethics.

“His conduct appears to have been an aberration in an otherwise unblemished professional career. He has shown insight in his response to regulators and he has cooperated with the Board, during these proceedings and with the police,” the decision states.

The misconduct finding and reprimand does not stop Huynh from reapplying for registration in the future and his fitness will be a matter for the PBA.

According to LinkedIn, Huynh worked as a locum for The Infinity Group from June 2015.

He previously worked as a pharmacy manager at the Belmont Village Priceline in Brisbane’s south from 2013 to 2015.

He also worked as a pharmacy manager at the George Street Amcal in the Brisbane CBD between 2009 and 2013.

Originally published as Johnny Huynh reprimanded for professional misconduct as pharmacist