Community pharmacists are central to medicines safety: screening prescriptions, spotting risks, advising patients and escalating concerns.

When a pharmacist’s actions are challenged, a specialist expert can clarify the standard of care the court should expect.

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What can the expert address?

A community pharmacy expert can provide focused opinion on:

• Prescription screening and medication risks • Dispensing accuracy and safe supply • Patient counselling, safety-netting and referral • Communication and record-keeping • Governance, supervision and professional standards

The scope will depend on the allegations, evidence and questions in the case.

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Why specialist expertise matters

Clinical negligence claims may involve several professionals, but a community pharmacist’s duties differ from those of a GP, nurse or hospital pharmacist.

The expert must stay within their own field.

Questions about prescribing, diagnosis, hospital treatment or wider medical causation may require experts from other disciplines.

Define the pharmacy-specific allegation early to secure the right expertise.

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‍Independent. Objective. Court-focused.

Under CPR Part 35, the expert’s overriding duty is to assist the court, not the party instructing or paying them.

The opinion must be independent, balanced and clear about any limits or gaps in the evidence.

That independence is the foundation of reliable expert evidence.

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What will the expert review?

The expert may review prescriptions, dispensing records, interventions, patient medication records, referrals, communications and pharmacy procedures.

The question is not simply whether something went wrong.

They assess what the pharmacist knew-or could reasonably have known-against the standards applicable at the time.

A robust opinion separates:

• What the records prove • What can reasonably be inferred • What remains uncertain

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Breach of duty and the limits of opinion

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The core issue is often breach of duty: did the pharmacist act as a competent practitioner reasonably should have done?

The expert may also address medication-related consequences where these fall within their professional scope.

Diagnosis, specialist treatment and wider medical causation may require another suitably qualified expert.

Clear boundaries make the opinion stronger and more useful,

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‍When should solicitors instruct one?

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Consider a community pharmacy expert where the case asks:

Was the prescription screened appropriately?

Was the medication risk identifiable?

Was the medicine supplied correctly?

Was suitable advice and safety-netting given?

Should the patient have been referred or escalated?

Were pharmacy procedures and professional standards followed?

Spotting these issues early helps secure the right evidence, faster.

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Clear pharmacy insight when it matters

A community pharmacy expert brings focused, independent insight when a pharmacist’s actions are under scrutiny. Their role is simple: clarify the pharmacy issues, explain the relevant standard and assist the court objectively.

Need the right community pharmacy expert for your case? Contact Maggie Sargent & Associates today to discuss your instructions and be matched quickly with an experienced specialist in pharmacy practice and liability.

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About the expert

Pranay Kotak is a GPhC-registered Community Pharmacist Expert Witness with over 16 years' experience in community pharmacy practice. He holds an MPharm and an Executive Diploma in Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs, and has completed formal medico-legal training through the University of Strathclyde.

His expert practice focuses on community pharmacy practice and pharmacy-specific breach of duty matters, including medication safety, prescription screening, dispensing, patient counselling, referral and pharmacy governance.

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