Chippewa County pharmacy agrees to pay $20,000 on federal drug dispensing allegations
MADISON (WKBT) — A Chippewa County pharmacy entered a settlement, agreeing to pay $20,000, to resolve civil allegations that it dispensed controlled substances outside of professional pharmacy practices.
The action, confirmed Thursday in federal court for the Western Wisconsin District, stipulated that Cadott Miller Pharmacy Ltd. in in Cadott violated the Controlled Substances Act by dispensing the controlled substances, among other CSA violations.
As a registrant with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the pharmacy was required under the CSA to be both knowledgeable of and to adhere to federal and state statutes and regulations concerning the receipt, storage, recordkeeping, distribution, dispensing and destruction of controlled substances, according to a news release from Timothy O’Shea, U.S. attorney for the Western District.
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration executed several administrative inspection warrants between 2017 and 2019 to review the pharmacy’s operations, according to the release. The DEA investigated the pharmacy’s practices on receiving, dispensing and recordkeeping of controlled substances
After finding fault with the compliance procedures, the DEA served an immediate suspension order of the pharmacy’s DEA registration certificate on Dec. 17, 2019, according to the release.
Cadott Miller Pharmacy voluntarily surrendered its DEA registration on Jan. 7, 2020, for cause, meaning that the pharmacy has been unable to dispense controlled substances.
The settlement agreement acknowledges that the civil penalty amount was based on an inability to pay a substantial penalty, determined after analysis of the pharmacy’s financial circumstances. The agreement states only CSA allegations; Cadott Miller Pharmacy denies the allegations, according to the news release.
According to the government’s allegations in the settlement agreement, Cadott Miller Pharmacy “dispensed controlled substances outside the usual course of professional pharmacy practice by filling combinations of controlled substances and medications that have no legitimate medical purpose, are highly addictive and were specifically combined to create or enhance abusive and euphoric effects.”
The government also alleged that the pharmacy dispensed controlled substances with no valid prescription, provided unauthorized early refills and dispensed Schedule II controlled substances for opioid dependence, which is prohibited under federal law.
“Pharmacies that dispense controlled substances outside the course of professional pharmacy practice endanger the public, abuse their DEA registration and violate federal law,” O’Shea said.
“Pharmacies hold a public trust and grave responsibilities. The overwhelming majority of pharmacies closely adhere to federal and state law and are entirely deserving of the public’s trust,” he said.
O’Shea added that his office partners with the DEA “to protect the public when pharmacies violate federal law.”
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