An Edmonton pharmacist has been temporarily suspended and fined for boosting his earnings by submitting more than $85,000 in wrongful claims for asthma medications and nutritional supplements like Boost and Ensure.

Mohamed Elsayed Haggag, owner and operator of Alberta Avenue Pharmacy at 118th Avenue and 94th Street, admitted to incorrectly billing Alberta Blue Cross between June 1, 2016, and July 31, 2017, according to decision from an Alberta College of Pharmacy tribunal.

"Mr. Haggag acknowledged the seriousness of the offences and has accepted responsibility for them by way of his admission," noted the decision released in June.

Over the course of the year, Haggag billed Alberta Blue Cross for $85,495.93 in claims for items that he didn't have in stock, including the asthma drugs Advair and Symbicort as well many nutritional supplements including Boost, Ensure, Glucerna and Pediasure, states the decision.

He also substituted nutritional products to patients that Alberta Blue Cross does not consider interchangeable and claimed that two patients were receiving drugs for daily use when they were in fact dispensed on a weekly basis.

Haggag, who has repaid Alberta Blue Cross, has been fined $30,000, ordered to pay some of the tribunal costs and has told he cannot own or operate a pharmacy for three years. His licence to practice was suspended for the month of July.