PSU to file essential services dispute over appoint of Drug Inspectorate

And where pharmacy-related matters are concerned, things in the Ministry of Health just got even more interesting. The Public Service Union has gotten involved, and made its presence known today with a fiery release. Here’s what precipitated the union’s involvement, in a nutshell, and you can connect the dots. Chief Pharmacist Sharon Anderson is currently the only person authorized to sign Customs entries for the importation of pharmaceuticals. Anderson was on certified sick leave from April seventh to April seventeenth. While she was on sick leave an email circulated claiming, falsely, that she was on strike and refusing to sign for supplies. As a result of that email, Ministry of Health C.E.O., Peter Allen, informed the Customs Department that other persons could now sign to import pharmaceuticals. One of those persons is Danini Contreras, the new and controversial Director of Drugs Inspectorate, who also happens to be the daughter of Minister Erwin Contreras. Connecting the dots yet? So Chief Pharmacist, Sharon Anderson, called in the PSU and like we said, things are suddenly much more interesting.

Via Phone: Marvin Blades, President, PSU

“We had an issue of an email came from the Ministry of Health, or persons inside the Ministry of Health, who falsely said that our member was on strike, Ms. Sharon Anderson, which was false. She was not on strike. She was on sick leave and she was still facilitating the signing of the different entries for pharmaceuticals to enter the country. Why would someone say that she was on strike and the C.E.O. is in the email saying that you can’t have anybody in the system holding anybody at ransom instead of as the C.E.O. doing what he should have done – investigating to see if this is true, and he knew she was on sick leave because you can’t be on sick leave without being authorized or sending in your sick paper.  Because of that misleading email, she is not the only one to sign. There are now two other persons or three other persons on that list now to sign, including Ms. Contreras.”

Marvin Blades

Mike Rudon

“The fact that she can sign for pharmaceuticals coming across the border…is this of something that is of definite concern? Because that opens the door for all sorts of hanky panky…”

Via Phone: Marvin Blades

“Exactly…now see, of concern for us is that as our release stated she does not have the experience nor is she registered as a pharmacist with the experience to deal with such matters. You understand. So it is something that we believe is of concern and it is definitely something we thought the nation should know about because the way how the Ministry of Health handled the issue with the email is totally misleading and wrong. What the C.E.O. should have instructed was to investigate to see if the Chief Pharmacist was on strike and he knew for a fact that she was not, so why would you facilitate such a thing?”

Late this evening, the Ministry of Health issued a release stating that it thought it advisable to, “authorize more than one officer to certify Customs entries. Accordingly, three other pharmacists, in addition to Mrs. Sharon Anderson, were authorized by the Ministry to certify such entries and thus avoid delays.” The Pharmacists’ Association of Belize maintains that Danini Contreras is not a registered pharmacist. And finally, we note that the PSU intends to declare the appointment of Danini Contreras an essential services dispute, and to take it before the Minister of Labour for his intervention.