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Former Vernon pharmacist accused of manslaughter had licence suspended

Shaun Ross Wiebe was charged in connection with the death of Heather Barker at The Rise in 2018
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Shaun Wiebe sorts out some pills at Wiebe’s Pharmacy on 35th Street which opened in April 2015. Wiebe, who had his licence suspended by the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia in 2019, was charged Jan. 22, 2021, with manslaughter in the case of the death of a Vernon woman in March 2018. He was also charged with assault causing bodily harm in connection with a February 2018 event. (Morning Star - file photo)

The man charged with manslaughter in the death of a Vernon woman in 2018 once operated his own Vernon pharmacy but later had his licence suspended by the provincial body for an alleged addictions issue.

Shaun Ross Wiebe opened Wiebe’s Pharmacy in the Discovery Plaza downtown on 35th Street in April 2015. He opened his own shop after working at the pharmacy in the Target store in the Village Green Shopping Centre, which closed.

Wiebe, a native of Herbert, Sask., graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 2002 and “was immediately recruited to come work in Vernon.”

On Dec. 27, 2019, the Inquiry Committee of the College of Pharmacists said there was enough evidence Wiebe suffered from a substance addiction that “renders him unfit to practice at this time.”

“The Inquiry Committee was of the view that the registrant’s continued practice poses a risk to the public, and that this risk cannot be addressed at this time with conditions or limits,” wrote the college in its decision. “Therefore, nothing short of suspension at this time will adequately protect the public.”

Wiebe’s name does not appear on the college’s list of registered pharmacists.

On Friday, Jan. 22, Wiebe was arrested and charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of Heather Barker, 37, at a home at The Rise development on March 15, 2018. She had been found unresponsive with life-threatening injuries in a home on Cordon Place.

Barker, a mother of three, originally from Langley, was taken to Vernon Jubilee Hospital and died from her injuries the next day.

Wiebe was also charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm stemming from an incident in February 2018. He has been remanded in custody pending his next court appearance, slated for Wednesday, Feb. 10.

The charges against Wiebe have yet to be proven in court.

READ MORE: Manslaughter charge laid in Vernon woman’s 2018 death



roger@vernonmorningstar.com

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