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Five faculty added to federal pharmacy lawsuit
Pharmacy deans, professor named
TAMARA BEST & KRISTEN COULTER
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: News
As the pharmacy school breaks ground today on a $42.9 million expansion, five additional University pharmacy faculty have been added to a federal lawsuit accusing them of copyright infringement, among other allegations.
The addendum filed Oct. 25 joins a lawsuit filed in August by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy against the Board of Regents and former University professor Flynn Warren, who is accused of disseminating pharmacy board exam questions.
College of Pharmacy Associate Dean George Francisco, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Alan Wolfgang, Dean of Academics Svein Øie, Associate Professor Henry Cobb and Paul Brooks are listed in the complaint.
The complaints states Cobb taught at least one Pharmacy Board Review Course with Warren and participated "in the compilation of course materials for such a Review Course."
The other four faculty were included because they "oversee the affairs of the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy," according to court documents.
The complaint also accuses the University of giving academic credit, extra credit, elective credit and other benefits to at least three students who helped gather exam questions and materials for Warren's review classes in the spring semester of 2007.
Vice President of Public Affairs Tom Jackson called the move "legal maneuvering" to keep the case from being dismissed.
"The University continues to contend the National Pharmacy Association overreacted in taking the test down, and we're prepared to defend it in court," Jackson said Thursday.
But, he said, he thinks the case will be dismissed.
Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, said Thursday he is unsure about what the outcome of the case will be.
"It's all in the hands of the judge," Catizone said.
A new facility
University President Michael Adams will preside today over the pharmacy school ceremony where Øie is among the speakers.
The four-story, 93,288-square-foot addition named Pharmacy South, located on the south side of the existing Robert C. Wilson building, is projected to be completed in 2009.
The present facility contains 100,000 square feet and the new addition almost doubles the amount of space available.
"The most immediate benefits to students are that there are better equipped classrooms and will allow all research to be conducted in the two pharmacy buildings we have now," said Sheila Roberson, director of alumni and public relations.
The majority of the space on the first two floors is dedicated to student learning with study areas and two 200-seat classrooms.
The new addition will increase classroom seating by 50 to 75 students and include office and laboratory spaces, a student learning center and a pharmacy care center, a community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, sterile products room and multi-purpose skills alcoves.
"I think the care center is a great hands-on opportunity and will offer students experience that will help them in their future endeavors," said Quintay Young, a sophomore pre-pharmacy student from Elberton.
The third and fourth floors contain work spaces for graduate students, tissue culture rooms and a demonstration lab.
Case background
The lawsuit accuses Warren of collecting and disseminating questions since at least 2003 from The North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination and Georgia Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination. To obtain a license to practice pharmacy, students must pass these tests.
As a result, the national and state licensing exams for pharmacists were suspended. The national exam was rewritten and reinstated on Oct. 5. The Georgia jurisprudence exam has a reinstatement goal of late November.
Warren faced similar allegations in 1995. In a settlement agreement from that year, Warren and the University said they would "cease and desist for profit or otherwise from all past, present and future copying, transcribing or other infringing use of NABP copyrighted materials, including but not limited to patient profiles, sample questions, or other copyrighted information."
Read the documents here.
The addendum filed Oct. 25 joins a lawsuit filed in August by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy against the Board of Regents and former University professor Flynn Warren, who is accused of disseminating pharmacy board exam questions.
College of Pharmacy Associate Dean George Francisco, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Alan Wolfgang, Dean of Academics Svein Øie, Associate Professor Henry Cobb and Paul Brooks are listed in the complaint.
The complaints states Cobb taught at least one Pharmacy Board Review Course with Warren and participated "in the compilation of course materials for such a Review Course."
The other four faculty were included because they "oversee the affairs of the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy," according to court documents.
The complaint also accuses the University of giving academic credit, extra credit, elective credit and other benefits to at least three students who helped gather exam questions and materials for Warren's review classes in the spring semester of 2007.
Vice President of Public Affairs Tom Jackson called the move "legal maneuvering" to keep the case from being dismissed.
"The University continues to contend the National Pharmacy Association overreacted in taking the test down, and we're prepared to defend it in court," Jackson said Thursday.
But, he said, he thinks the case will be dismissed.
Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, said Thursday he is unsure about what the outcome of the case will be.
"It's all in the hands of the judge," Catizone said.
A new facility
University President Michael Adams will preside today over the pharmacy school ceremony where Øie is among the speakers.
The four-story, 93,288-square-foot addition named Pharmacy South, located on the south side of the existing Robert C. Wilson building, is projected to be completed in 2009.
The present facility contains 100,000 square feet and the new addition almost doubles the amount of space available.
"The most immediate benefits to students are that there are better equipped classrooms and will allow all research to be conducted in the two pharmacy buildings we have now," said Sheila Roberson, director of alumni and public relations.
The majority of the space on the first two floors is dedicated to student learning with study areas and two 200-seat classrooms.
The new addition will increase classroom seating by 50 to 75 students and include office and laboratory spaces, a student learning center and a pharmacy care center, a community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, sterile products room and multi-purpose skills alcoves.
"I think the care center is a great hands-on opportunity and will offer students experience that will help them in their future endeavors," said Quintay Young, a sophomore pre-pharmacy student from Elberton.
The third and fourth floors contain work spaces for graduate students, tissue culture rooms and a demonstration lab.
Case background
The lawsuit accuses Warren of collecting and disseminating questions since at least 2003 from The North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination and Georgia Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination. To obtain a license to practice pharmacy, students must pass these tests.
As a result, the national and state licensing exams for pharmacists were suspended. The national exam was rewritten and reinstated on Oct. 5. The Georgia jurisprudence exam has a reinstatement goal of late November.
Warren faced similar allegations in 1995. In a settlement agreement from that year, Warren and the University said they would "cease and desist for profit or otherwise from all past, present and future copying, transcribing or other infringing use of NABP copyrighted materials, including but not limited to patient profiles, sample questions, or other copyrighted information."
Read the documents here.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 4
Winfield J. Abbe
posted 11/02/07 @ 7:52 PM EST
A pharmacist is one is dispenses "legal" drugs, approved by a corrupt U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is basically bought and paid for by drug and food processing companies, which, in turn, risk lives with drugs which often do little good and whose side effects are ofter more dangerous than the disease, and ruined and adulterated the food supply. (Continued…)
Ron B
posted 11/15/07 @ 12:46 AM EST
Your an idiot
Question
posted 11/15/07 @ 11:52 AM EST
Dr. Abbe: surely UGA is not alone in wanting to make money off of any new program they might inaugurate at their university. I guess I'm wondering why a medical school would be so much worse at UGA than it would be anywhere else? If anything, if we had one here, we'd all have it in our backyard and could keep a closer eye on things - as opposed to going after the entire medical and pharmaceutical industry in toto. (Continued…)
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