West Hartford pharmacy penalized $150K for losing thousands of drug doses

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A West Hartford pharmacy has agreed to pay a penalty of $150,000 to resolve claims that it lost thousands of doses of a prescription drug meant to treat anxiety and panic disorders, prosecutors say.

Suburban Pharmacy Ltc Inc., which is now operating as Suburban Pharmacy Long-Term Care, on Tuesday entered into a civil settlement with the federal government to resolve allegations that it violated civil provisions of the Controlled Substances Act, according to the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Investigators allege the pharmacy reported inaccurate records regarding the receipt and dispensing of controlled substances, in addition to its failure to control the diversion of those drugs.

According to the investigators, Suburban Pharmacy prescribes medications to about 200 long-term care centers, assisted living facilities, group homes and other in-patient facilities.

In fall 2018, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for New England began investigating the pharmacy following a reported loss of more than 6,000 dosage units of Alprazolam 2mg, a schedule IV controlled substance. Prosecutors say that an internal investigation shows employee theft likely contributed to the loss.

After auditing Suburban Pharmacy’s inventory of controlled substances, the DEA found a total discrepancy of more than 22,000 doses of controlled substances.

The disparity, government officials allege, is due largely to negligent controls against diversion and the pharmacy’s failure to keep accurate inventories of the controlled substances it received, sold, dispensed or disposed of.

U.S. Attorney John H. Durham in a statement said it’s clear there is a significant amount of “damage caused by prescription drug abuse” in the U.S.

“Pharmacies must keep accurate records and maintain strong controls when handling controlled substances,” Durham said. “Those that fail to do so open the door to the potential for diversion of drugs by pharmacy employees, the illegal distribution and abuse of these drugs, and a federal investigation.”