Board settles cases against pharmacies in Marion and Fairfield

State regulators have fined a Linn County pharmacy for a drug dispensing error and settled charges of gross negligence against a Jefferson County pharmacy with a warning.

In the Linn County case, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy alleges that on Dec. 24, 2024, a 22-month-old child was prescribed antibiotics to treat pneumonia. A pharmacy technician at the CVS Pharmacy in Marion allegedly gave the child’s mother azithromycin tablets instead of a liquid and failed to provide counseling on use of the medication. The tablets were subsequently returned when the mother discovered the error, according to the board.

The CVS Pharmacy was charged by the board with failing to provide pharmacist counseling upon receipt of a new prescription drug order; failing to review records to identify any issues such as incorrect drug dosages; and dispensing an incorrect prescription.

In order to resolve the matter, the CVS Pharmacy and the board agreed to settlement that calls for the pharmacy to accept a warning and pay a civil penalty of $5,000.

In addition, the pharmacy must also implement a training and remediation plan, specifically with regard to pediatric dosing and milligram/kilogram dosing and the maintenance of a “proper computerized system protocol” that has the capability to catch errors. Pharmacists will be required to double-check the system to ensure errors do not occur.

Board settles case with Fairfield pharmacy

In the Jefferson County case, the Board of Pharmacy charged Summit Pharmacy of Fairfield with willful or gross negligence, alleging that over the previous several years, many controlled substances had been diverted from the pharmacy’s inventory for the personal use of the pharmacist owner at the time.

Since the initial investigation of that matter, Summit Pharmacy has changed ownership and, according to the board, has “embraced changes” to come into compliance with pharmacy regulations. The pharmacy and the board agreed to resolve the charge of willful or gross negligence with a warning.

The board records do not identify the pharmacy’s current owner.

Board records indicate the former owner, Bryan Vander Linden, admitted in 2024 that he had intentionally diverted controlled substances “for personal use” over the course of six years while working at a Hy-Vee pharmacy in Fairfield.

According to the board, Vander Linden’s admission came about after federal agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration launched an investigation into some form of unspecified “discrepancies” at Summit Pharmacy.

The board charged Vander Linden with knowingly making misleading or untrue statements in the practice of pharmacy; habitual intoxication or addiction to drugs; being convicted of a state or federal law related to drugs or the practice of pharmacy; stealing prescription drugs from a pharmacy for one’s personal use; and practicing pharmacy while under the influence of illegally obtained drugs or while impaired by legitimately prescribed drugs.

Vander Linden’s license was suspended last year when he signed an agreement to refrain from practicing. Earlier this year, the board agreed to settle the charges, in part by lifting the May 2024 license suspension and allowing Vander Linden to “return to practicing as a pharmacist at Summit Pharmacy.”

The settlement also stipulated that Vander Linden must pay a $500 civil penalty and participate in the state’s Impaired Practitioners’ Health Program for Pharmacy and submit to any required drug screenings.

As a result of the DEA investigation, Vander Linden was criminally charged last year with acquiring controlled substances through fraud, deception or misrepresentation. Prosecutors alleged he stole 3,800 doses of Oxycodone, 1,001 doses of Hydrocodone, and 428 doses of Carisoprodol.

Earlier this year, he was convicted of the charged offense and sentenced to four years of probation and fined $9,500.

This article was first published by Iowa Capital Dispatch.