A former pharmacist at a relatively new infusion company has filed suit claiming he faced retaliation from his employer after raising concerns about ethics and patient safety.
In a suit filed in Multnomah Circuit Court, Jacob Helton claims Emerging Health placed him on a performance improvement plan after he objected to management pressure to medicate a patient in a manner that he felt was unsafe. The decision to put him on the plan, according to the suit, was transmitted on the same day he was given a raise and a “glowing” performance review.
Shortly after that, the suit claims, management pressured Helton to come into work at a time when he had doctors’ notes to deal with oral surgery complications and also needed to be home to care for his 11-month-old son’s severe fever and pain from a viral infection.
Formed in August 2020, Emerging Health is a subsidiary of Moda Health. The suit names both Emerging Health as well as Moda Partners.
The insurer’s website says the infusion provider works with medical providers, hospital systems, manufacturers and payers, calling it “an ancillary infusion center and home infusion pharmacy.” It said the company’s first facility, located in southwest Portland, ”features nine private infusion suites for patients and their caregivers, as well as a state-of-the-art onsite pharmacy.”
Representatives of Emerging Health and Moda Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did Helton’s attorney.
Hired in 2022
Helton received his Oregon pharmacist license in 2018 and was certified as a preceptor who could help train pharmacy students and residents two years later, state records show. He went to work for Emerging Health at its Portland facility in June 2022, with the title of area infusion manager and a salary of $160,000, according to the suit.
Right away, he helped the company deal with an Oregon Board of Pharmacy investigation for failing to have a pharmacist-in-charge on site for the three days before his hiring and after his predecessor was terminated, the suit claims. Helton claims that with his help, the investigation did not lead to consequences, saying he “had a contact (at the agency) and was able to explain the situation and mitigate the investigation.”
Then, on Jan. 12, 2023, Helton said he put a company executive on speakerphone while he was meeting with a pharmacist and a pharmacy technician. According to the suit, the executive “berated” Helton for refusing to “dispense a medication to a patient who had not yet completed all the requisite paperwork and testing to ensure that the medication was safe, despite her directive to do so.” Helton, the suit said, “was adamant that giving this patient the medication was unethical and could present a severe health risk for the patient, as well as a serious liability risk for Emerging Health … (and Helton) should not be retaliated against for complying with Frazier’s demands if something were to happen to the patient.”
The other pharmacist who’d been in the room for the exchange then filed an ethics complaint with the company raising concerns about the situation, using a service called “Ethics Point,” after which Helton found himself placed on a 60-day performance improvement plan for his communication style in the conversation, the suit said. Helton then was placed on another “final” improvement plan” and was told he needed to accept a demotion to staff pharmacist.
Due to fear of being fired, Helton said he felt he needed to come into work. After a major snowstorm, he slipped on the ice in the company’s parking lot and suffered a severe concussion.
He lost his worker’s comp claim, and then Moda’s human relations department denied him family leave, saying Emerging Health was too small to be covered by the law, according to the suit. The firm terminated him in April.
The suit seeks $620,000 in lost wages and damages.
