Pharmacy pays over $100k for illegally giving out opioids
San Diego Balboa Pharmacy to pay $105,000 penalty for illegally giving patients opioids
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) – A San Diego pharmacy paid $105,000 to settle allegations in which they were illegitimately dispensing opioids along with other drugs to patients.
The reason behind this effort stems from the United States' continued measures to fight the opioid epidemic, tying this investigation of Balboa Pharmacy's violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act.
According to the news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for Southern District of California, Balboa Pharmacy supplied prescriptions before attempting to determine a few generally known red flags:
- Patients who received prescriptions from multiple prescribers, which sometimes were for the same types of controlled substances or for dangerous combinations of drugs
- Dangerous combinations of drugs
- Filling prescriptions for patients early, which includes refilling a patient's prescription before their previous one ran out
This case signifies the Department of Justice’s drive to investigate pharmacies that could
be filling harmful prescriptions before confirming the legitimacy of each one.
It is urged by the Department of Justice for pharmacists to carefully track the strength of opioids being dispensed to patients and should refer to the Morphine Milligram Equivalent of prescribed opioids.
"Pharmacies are the last line of defense protecting the public from addictive opioids and other controlled substances," said U.S. Attorney Randy S. Grossman. "This office will pursue pharmacists who carelessly disregard red flags, opting instead to rubberstamp questionable prescriptions. We will continue to use all available tools to combat the serious opioid epidemic."
