(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
This story was originally published by Iowa Capital Dispatch and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Eight Walgreens stores face new charges from Iowa pharmacy regulators [1]
['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- January']
Date: 2024-01-12
Eight Walgreens stores in Iowa, all previously sanctioned by the state, are facing new charges of violating pharmacy-recordkeeping regulations related to controlled substances.
The precise nature of the alleged violations is not being publicly disclosed by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy. Due to a 2022 Iowa Supreme Court ruling, Iowa’s licensing boards no longer disclose to the public the alleged circumstances that have caused the boards to file charges against licensees until the cases are closed – a process that can take months or even years.
Board of Pharmacy records show that the eight Walgreens stores are each alleged to have intentionally or repeatedly violated an administrative rule requiring them to create and maintain complete and accurate records as required by state or federal law.
Each of the eight stores is also accused of committing unspecified acts that would render their Controlled Substances Act registrations “inconsistent with the public interest.”
According to the board, the stores in question have been given written information on what they’re alleged to have done wrong, but that information is not being made public.
Seven of the Walgreens stores facing charges are those at 15601 Hickman Road in Clive; 901 N. Ankeny Boulevard in Ankeny; 3140 S.E. 14th St. in Des Moines; 2545 E. Euclid Ave. in Des Moines; 111 W. Ridgeway Ave. in Waterloo; 4555 Fleur Drive in Des Moines; and 1251 4th St. in Mason City. The eighth Walgreens store is identified in board records only as “12753 Clive,” which appears to be a reference to the Walgreens store located at 12753 University Ave. in Clive.
The charges could be tied to a set of sanctions all eight of those stores faced in 2022, when nine Iowa Walgreens stores were penalized for a variety of alleged violations, including missing narcotics, a lack of qualified personnel and issues that caused some Iowans to lose access to their medications.
Two of the nine stores had previously been sanctioned for their hiring practices. Of those nine stores, the Mason City retailer was hit with the most serious penalties: probation for 18 months plus a civil penalty of up to $20,000.
Separate from that case, the store located at 3140 S.E. 14th St. in Des Moines was fined $5,000 in 2023 for incorrectly filling customers’ prescriptions. At the time, the store was already on probation with the Board of Pharmacy over allegations that patient counseling was not provided to a patient given a new prescription for prednisone.
In 2022, the Walgreens store located at 12753 University Ave. in Clive was fined $1,500 for operating for 12 days without a designated pharmacist in charge. With the hiring of a new pharmacist in charge, the store then failed to complete a controlled substance inventory.
Other Board of Pharmacy actions
The Board of Pharmacy took action recently in several other cases, including:
— Ryan Etscheid of Altoona: In September of 2023, Etscheid was charged with obtaining or possessing prescription drugs without lawful authority, multiple counts of diverting prescription drugs from a pharmacy for personal use or distribution, and forging or altering a prescription.
At the time, the board issued an emergency order suspending Etscheid’s license, stating that “the significant, documented quantities of controlled and non-controlled substances alleged to be diverted by” Etscheid made him an “imminent threat to public safety.”
The board alleged that from August 2021 through August 2023, Etscheid worked for PharmServ, a temp agency that specializes in placing pharmaceutical staff in pharmacies across Iowa. Among the locations Etscheid worked at, through PharmServ, were Hy-Vee pharmacies in Ottumwa, Waterloo and Albia.
In July 2023, the pharmacist on duty at the Waterloo store discovered Schedule II narcotic prescriptions that were deemed fraudulent and contained fictitious patient information. Video surveillance allegedly confirmed Etscheid had filled the prescriptions, placed the drugs in his backpack and exited the building. An investigation allegedly revealed similar incidents at the Ottumwa and Albia stores.
The board recently agreed to settle its case against Etscheid by having him voluntarily surrender his pharmacy license for a period of one year, after which his license will be placed on a period of probation and monitoring for five years. The board is also requiring Etscheid to pay a $500 penalty and take 25 hours of education on ethics and the law. It appears that no criminal charges were filed in the case.
— Wendy Atcher of Marshalltown: Atcher, a certified pharmacy technician, is charged with diverting prescription drugs from a pharmacy for personal use or distribution. Based on facts the board has not publicly disclosed, the board has found reason to believe Atcher poses “an imminent threat to public safety and should not be permitted to practice pharmacy,” and has issued an emergency order suspending her license while the charges are pending.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/01/12/eight-walgreens-stores-face-new-charges-from-iowa-pharmacy-regulators/
Published and (C) by Iowa Capital Dispatch
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND-NC 4.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/iowacapitaldispatch/
