For those that dont know, I am a pharmacist currently working for a small independent infusion pharmacy. I work 2 shifts a week and we have a second pharmacist, who works the other 3. We also have a full time pharmacist in charge. For the last year, we have been compounding both semaglutide and tirzepatide and the pharmacy has been making money hand over fist. Last month, tirzepatide went off the FDA shortage list and the FDA issued guidance for all compounding pharmacies to immediately stop production. The FDA was later sued by the Compounders Association and an injunction was granted. I believe the FDA will issue a statement sometime this month on the matter. So with that out of the way...
When we found out last month about tirzepatide coming off the shortage list, the other part time pharmacist and I independently researched what an "an essential copy" of a brand named drug was and decided our B12 + tirzepatide was just that. A copy. While tirzepatide was on the shortage list, it was fine to make, but after it went off, we told our manager and the owner we could not in good faith continue to check those meds. The owner and the pharmacist in charge said our compounded drug was different enough so that it was not an essential copy but we let them know our intentions. This was on October 9th. At the time I told our other part time pharmacist to email himself a memo of record stating that we could not in good faith check this med as we basically believed it to be illegal to do so, that we researched the FDA guidance and that we were both in good standing at our pharmacy with no write ups etc. Fast forward to last week. I learned they are going to fire the other part time pharmacist tomorrow and that they hired a full time pharmacist to replace him. I learned this new pharmacist gave a months notice at her work so they basically interviewed and hired this pharmacist within 1 week of me and the other pharmacist stating we would not check the medication moving forward. They also informed me I would be initially working 4 days a week for 2 weeks to train the new pharmacist and then I would only work 1 day a week after that. They said they are hoping to grow but that they would re-evaluate my status in the future. The owner also made a strange comment to me at the time saying that they decided not to fire me. Basically I believe I will be training my replacement for 2 weeks and then they will let me go (soon) after they feel the other pharmacist can handle the work and after they determine they did not grow as anticipated. I think the writing is on the wall. It has also been miserable there since we told them last month of our decision and I really dont care to be there. The only thing is the pharmacist they hired AND the pharmacist in charge have exactly 0 experience in home infusion and let me tell you, it takes a while to learn this nook of pharmacy.
My questions are
1. are there any lawyers who specialize in this?
2. is there a case for wrongful termination and if so is it worth pursuing?
For me its not a huge deal but I feel really bad for the other pharmacist as his wife just lost her job and they are having some issues with their kids mental health. This is going to be horrible for him.