Pharmacist Acquitted for Announcing a Drug Without Health Approval

The Commercial Misdemeanors Division of the Court of First Instance acquitted a pharmacist of charges related to advertising a pharmaceutical drug before obtaining a license from the Ministry of Health, establishing a scientific office without a permit, and violating regulations governing the registration and importation of medicines. Lawyer Nawaf Ali Al-Wahab stated that his defense before the court focused on the argument that his client was not the person implicated in the accusations, and that he lacked the legal standing regarding the alleged offense. He further argued that the act cited in the second charge did not fall under the criminalization provisions outlined in the indictment. Al-Wahab added that he also raised the defense of ignorance of the laws and non-penal decisions governing medical licenses, thereby negating criminal intent, in addition to his client’s steadfast denial and the absence of conclusive evidence in the case files sufficient to warrant a conviction.