Brighton pharmacist who let a patient's morphine be swapped for WATER is suspended — as hair tests reveal he took the drugs himself

Published 15 October 2026, 15:57

• A General Pharmaceutical Council panel chaired by Neil Calvert banned Raju Kanti Patel for four months.
• Hair analysis proved the Harper's Pharmacy boss consumed morphine, oxycodone and amphetamine with 'no legal reason'.
• Police seized bottles given to a back-pain patient — only one of three actually contained morphine.
• Dishonesty claims were not proved, and the panel noted eight years of safe practice, insight and remorse.

A Brighton pharmacist who let a patient's morphine be swapped for water — and who tested positive for morphine, oxycodone and amphetamine himself — has been suspended for four months by a General Pharmaceutical Council Fitness to Practise Committee.

Raju Kanti Patel, part-owner and Superintendent Pharmacist of Harper's Pharmacy in Brighton, was found to have caused or permitted Oramorph, a morphine sulphate solution, and oxycodone hydrochloride to be replaced with water or an alternative liquid during the period from January to August 2018.

The committee determined that Patel had been responsible for Patient A receiving the replacement liquid instead of the Oramorph they were relying on to manage pain from a prolapsed disc.

The panel was satisfied Patel had, "on one or more occasions, caused or allowed Oramorph/morphine sulphate to be substituted with water or another liquid including water," according to the determination.

The committee said there was not enough evidence Patel swapped the drugs himself, but he had allowed a person not employed by the pharmacy unsupervised access — including outside opening hours — to the room where controlled drugs were stored.

Hair samples analysed by Dr C revealed morphine, oxycodone, cocaine and amphetamines present across the seven months before sampling. Dr C concluded that the results indicated a pattern of repeated use of amphetamine, morphine and oxycodone and occasional use of cocaine.

The committee found consumption of morphine — which Patel admitted — plus oxycodone and amphetamine proved, supported by a ChemTox report "which demonstrated levels significantly above the expected range," the panel said.

Allegations of cocaine and "narcocaine" consumption were not proved because of "the comparatively low readings," the committee ruled.

The drug-taking amounted to misconduct, the panel found.

Although the drugs had been consumed some time ago, they "were being taken without there being a valid medical reason for doing so. There was no legal reason or clinically valid prescription for taking them," the committee said.

The substitution first surfaced in January 2018, when Patient A's carer MA collected a sealed Oramorph bottle from the pharmacy.

When the contents were poured, both women noticed the smell and consistency were unlike the familiar syrup — and on tasting it, Patient A believed it was water.

Patel delivered a replacement and asked for the suspect bottle back; Patient A said she had thrown it away but in fact kept it because of her concerns.

In August 2018, a second bottle delivered to Patient A's home also appeared to be water.

She told carer LB, who informed her employer, the Care Agency, which reported the matter to police on August 24, 2018.

PCSO B seized the three bottles, and testing revealed only one contained morphine — water was detected in the other two.

The committee was satisfied Patel visited Patient A at home and asked her to hand over the container, and that she became distressed.

Patel "ought to have appreciated Patient A's vulnerability and his responsibilities as a caring professional," the panel said, though it ruled the visit was "ill-advised and inappropriate" rather than misconduct.

Dishonesty allegations were not proved.

"In the absence of evidence demonstrating the Registrant's prior knowledge of any substitution," the committee said, it could not be satisfied Patel knowingly supplied the water-filled bottles.

When officers took Patel into custody on August 25, 2018, a subsequent search of his home uncovered controlled drug registers and a number of controlled substances, including buprenorphine, methylphenidate, lisdexamfetamine, morphine sulphate, Oramorph and oxycodone preparations.

Two bottles labelled morphine seized from his home contained water, and a pharmacy search on August 30 found oxycodone bottles that also tested as water.

Police closed the case with no further action around September 17, 2018.

The home drug possession allegations failed because Patel shared his home with another person.

Patel did admit keeping one controlled drugs register at home, which breached patient confidentiality.

He also failed to keep Responsible Pharmacist logs up to date between January and August 2018.

His "failure to keep his records up to date and maintain an appropriate oversight of the pharmacy's activities was serious and amounted to misconduct," the committee found.

The panel found Patel's fitness to practise impaired on public interest grounds only.

Council counsel Simeon Wallis submitted that members of the public "would be shocked to learn that the Registrant has behaved in a manner found proved and would expect the regulator to make finding of impairment in the wider public interest."

The committee accepted that eight years of unrestricted safe practice, insight, remorse, CPD and favourable testimonials showed Patel had remediated the public protection concerns.

A warning was rejected because these were "wide-ranging failures" involving substituted prescription drugs, a removed controlled drug register and drug consumption without a valid prescription, the panel said.

But a longer suspension was "disproportionate as he has been practising safely for about 8 years."

The four-month suspension requires no review and takes effect on October 16, 2026, unless Patel appeals.