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

Brighton pharmacist Raju Kanti Patel has been suspended for four months after a General Pharmaceutical Council panel found he caused or allowed a patient's Oramorph to be swapped for water, and hair tests showed he had taken morphine, oxycodone and amphetamine himself with 'no legal reason'. Patient A, relying on it for a prolapsed disc, found a sealed bottle tasted like water in January 2018.

Carer MA collected the first suspect bottle; when Patel asked for it back, Patient A secretly kept it.

Two bottles labelled morphine found at Patel's home also contained water, police searches revealed.

Counsel Simeon Wallis said the public 'would be shocked'; police took no further action in 2018.