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Alabama Attorney General Investigates Pharmacy Board, Reinstates Pharmacist
The Alabama Attorney General’s office has announced it is investigating the state’s Pharmacy Board after it suspended the license of a pharmacist for failing to obtain a waiver from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
The pharmacist was arrested in the mid 2000s as part of a federal opioid sting operation targeting pharmacies that worked with websites selling hydrocodone. The pharmacist ultimately pled guilty to 1 count of illegal distribution of a controlled substance and 1 count of money laundering and served 2 years in federal prison.
After his release, the pharmacist applied for work with Brooklere Pharmacy which reached out to the Alabama Pharmacy Board to clear the hire. Under state law, the pharmacist was allowed to regain his pharmacy license; however, to work in a pharmacy that dispensed controlled substances, there was a requirement for the pharmacy to obtain a waiver through the DEA.
When the Pharmacy Board realized the waiver had not been obtained, rather than allow the pharmacy to correct the situation, the board suspended the pharmacist and filed charges to revoke his license. What followed was a protracted hearing process, lasting months, during which the pharmacist and his attorney attempted to point out it was the pharmacy’s duty, and not the pharmacist’s, to obtain the DEA waiver.
When the pharmacy owners informed the Board’s attorneys they were going to testify at the pharmacist’s hearing to explain they were responsible for not obtaining the waiver, the Board filed charges against the pharmacy. After that move, which appeared to be designed to prevent the pharmacy owners from testifying, the Attorney General got involved.
Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that he was taking over the case in September 2022, and immediately dismissed the charges against the pharmacist and restored his license. In the letter announcing his office taking the case, Attorney General Marshall wrote “Credible allegations have been made about the handling of this matter by the employees of the Alabama Pharmacy Board, which are now under investigation.”
The attorney for the pharmacist has not ruled out a civil suit against the Pharmacy Board.
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