State wins case against pharmacy college
A judge finds the Hawaii College of Pharmacy liable to $6.5 million in restitution to 300 students
The state's Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) has successfully obtained a judgment against the Hawaii College of Pharmacy and its principals, whom the state agency said misled students about accreditation, breached contracts and retaliated against students who questioned the status of the school.
Under the terms of the judgment, entered yesterday by the First Circuit Court, the school is liable for approximately $6.5 million in restitution to about 300 students and must pay $7.5 million in civil penalties to the State of Hawaii, said Steve Levins, OCP executive director. Until all payments are paid, school principals David Monroe and Denise A. Criswell are barred from ever owning, operating, managing or conducting business in Hawaii, he said.
"We are pleased to have stopped this school's operations, and to have prevented further harm to its students," Levins said, adding that pharmacy students must graduate from an accredited school to practice as pharmacists.
More than 300 students either lost academic credits, class time or up to $28,000 in tuition as a result of the college's actions, he said. As a result of the judgment, most students will receive about 25 percent of the money that they paid to the school, Levins said.
"This was the best possible outcome that we could have hoped to achieve," he said.
During the legal process leading up to the judgment, OCP and court receivers collected in excess of $1.5 million, which will be distributed on a pro rata basis to the victims, Levins said.
Since the victims of the case will be paid first, the state is unlikely to receive its monetary portion of the judgment, he said.
However, the state will continue to monitor Monroe's finances for improvements, Levins said.
"Unless Mr. Monroe wins the lottery or his financial situation improves, it's unlikely that we or the students will receive any more money above the $1.5 million that has been recovered," he said.
A few students, who are pursuing private lawsuits, might see more restitution, Levins said, but added that he could not comment on the status of those cases.
While the OCP has sued approximately 60 schools who have violated Hawaii laws in the past four years, Levins called the Hawaii College of Pharmacy's case the most egregious.
"The Office of Consumer Protection simply will not tolerate any violations of Hawaii's unaccredited school law," he said.
The state agency filed suit against the Kapolei graduate school last July after students complained that they were concerned about the college's academic status, Levins said.
Students told the state that several faculty members had left the school and that the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education in Chicago had asked the college to withdraw its application, he said.
According to court documents, the college told state officials in 2003 it had no students and would not accept any until progress had been made toward accreditation, but later acknowledged that it began accepting students before the process was complete.
Tensions escalated after the college attempted to fix its accreditation by holding back more than half of the college's inaugural class, regardless of whether students had passed their courses.
Legal battles broke out on all sides after students organized protests and began questioning the college after they were told that they would have to repeat their inaugural year of study at their expense.
The college attempted to bar three students from campus for allegedly provoking violence and inciting riots, but dropped the action shortly after the state began its investigation.
