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2 Texas State Board of Pharmacy Peace Officers Resign in Lieu of Termination

2 Texas State Board of Pharmacy Peace Officers Resign in Lieu of Termination

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2 Texas State Board of Pharmacy Peace Officers Resign in Lieu of Termination

The Texas State Board of Pharmacy is the state agency responsible for the licensing/registration of Texas pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacies; for establishing regulations for pharmacy practice; and for disciplining licensees and registrants.

About Us, Texas State Board of Pharmacy website

Texas State Board of Pharmacy Investigator Resigns in Lieu of Termination

On October 25, 2022, Hilario “Lalo” Torres, an investigator with the Texas State Board of Pharmacy resigned in lieu of involuntary termination. The resignation letter to Chief Investigator Rolando Belmares was two sentences.

Torres was initially appointed on January 17, 2018 and separated on October 25, 2022. The specifics related to the separation are not immediately available.

Texas State Board of Pharmacy Chief Investigator Resigns in Lieu of Termination

On August 29, 2022, Chief Investigator Rolando Belmares received a documented oral warning for an untimely investigation. The warning states the following:

On May 20, 2021, a complaint was assigned to a Central Texas field investigator. The complaint alleged that a prescription was sold without counseling at a pharmacy in Buda, Texas. The complaint also alleged that the patient was treated in an ER.

Field work was initiated with pharmacy records obtained and interviews completed in between May 28, 2021, and July 15, 2021, with a request made for the patient’s ER records from the hospital. A follow-up request for the ER records was made on February 28, 2022, and then again on August 3, 2022.

The case was 461 days at the time the completed field investigation was submitted.

On August 24, 2022, the complaint was submitted as a complete investigation by the field investigator with the ER records obtained.

Procedure is for a case to be completed with field work within 180 days of assignment, unless circumstances warrant a longer field investigation. An age of complaint report for open complaints is run and disseminated monthly to all team leads in enforcement.

At all times relevant, [Belmares has] been the supervisor for the field investigation with the procedure for the 180-day timeframe for field investigations. It has previously been discussed on several occasions that field work must be timely as these cases, such as this one, will be referred for disciplinary action to TSBP legal.

Oral Documented Warning, Dated August 29, 2022, Signed by Director of Enforcement Caroline Hotchkiss, J.D.

On January 25, 2023, Chief Investigator Rolando Belmares was issued a documented oral warning. Part of the documented oral warning is as follows:

Reason for Warning: A copy of an employee’s confidential personnel file was saved in the Enforcement shared drive that is accessible by all TSBP Employees. This file contained sensitive information regarding the employee’s termination. The termination memos contained information that related another employee and their personal identifiable information.

Prior Discussion or Warnings on this Subject: Human Resources had previously notified you that it was not appropriate to share an employee’s personnel file with other employees on January 12, 2023. Furthermore, Caroline Hotchkiss, Director of Enforcement, directed [Belmares] to save the file under the secure “MANAGEMENT” folder in the Enforcement shared drive.

Oral Documented Warning, Dated January 25, 2023, Signed by Executive Director Tim Tucker, Pharm.D.

On April 24, 2023, Chief Investigator Rolando Belmares provided a two line resignation to Director of Enforcement Caroline Hotchkiss. The personnel action for Belmares indicated he resigned his position in lieu of involuntary termination from the Texas State Board of Pharmacy.

As with Torres, the details leading up to the resignation of Belmares are not immediately available.


A Couple of Our Other Reads

You may be interested in reading about the Hays County District Attorney changing their process on accepting Texas Public Information Act complaints.

Or you may be interested in reading about a local Hays County attorney suing the county over his treatment in jail.

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