Showing posts with label rhode island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rhode island. Show all posts

Friday, March 29, 2013

RI Compounding Issues Involved:: HEALTH Director Fine Denies License Restoration for Pharmacist Leo Blais' pharmacist license was reinstated just two days earlier, with restrictions. By Lauren CostaEmail the authorMarch 28, 2013




The RI Dept. of Health announced Monday the restoration of former state Sen. Leo Blais' pharmacist license, but with stipulations. Just two days later, HEALTH Director Michael D. Fine denied the restoration.
Last March, Director Fine suspended Blais' license indefinitely after a "dispensing error" at his East Greenwich pharmacy, Apothecare Compounding Solutions, resulted in a 2-year-old and an 11-month-old receiving multiple unintended doses of morphine.
The Dept. of Health also cited Blais for removing drugs from his pharmacy, to an unlicensed and unauthorized location during the RI flood event of 2010, as well as compounding prescription drugs in an environment not meeting standards; both allegations that he disputes. 
Last Friday, Blais accepted a court-ordered two-year suspension retroactive to March 23, 2012, with the second year of suspension stayed. His license was on probation during the second year and he was also forbidden from serving as a Pharmacist-in-Charge or an instructor during that period of time. Blais was also required to undergo 40 hours of training; 20 in the areas of law and ethics and 20 in the area of compounding.
In a letter sent to Administrative Hearing Officer Catherine Warren on Wednesday afternoon, Fine said he "disapproved of the Consent Order ratified by the Rhode Island Board of Pharmacy" that allowed Blais his license back.
According to the Health Dept., Fine took this action under the authority of Rhode Island General Law Chapter 5, Section 19.1-5, which requires all board actions to be approved by the director.
“After reviewing the Consent Order ratified by the Board of Pharmacy, I consider the agreement between the parties outlined in the order to be insufficient, given the facts leading to the Summary Suspension of Leo Blais,” Director Fine said. 

Monday, March 4, 2013

R.I. Health Department shuts down pharmacy that mixed fertility drugs

March 1, 2013 3:24 pm
By Felice Freyer
In a rare move, the Health Department on Friday shut down a specialty pharmacy in Lincoln, R.I., for improperly compounding fertility drugs.

The department also pulled the license of its pharmacist.
The Rhode Island Village Pharmacy, at 1 Commerce St., and pharmacist Elise Varkonyi both received summary suspensions for violations that included mixing drugs without a proper ventilation hood, failure to monitor surfaces and the air for microorganisms and mislabeling drugs made in Massachusetts as having been made in Rhode Island.
Catherine A. Cordy, Pharmacy Board executive director, said that fewer than 100 Rhode Island patients had received drugs from Village Pharmacy and there was no evidence of patient harm. This is the first time in recent memory that the department has shut down a pharmacy, Cordy said.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

RI Pharmacy accused of illegal compounding Under HEALTH orders to stop practice


Updated: Tuesday, 20 Nov 2012, 1:56 PM EST
Published : Tuesday, 20 Nov 2012, 1:55 PM EST
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) -- The Rhode Island Department of Health has ordered a Saunderstown pharmacy, it said is illegally compounding and distributing medication, to immediately stop the practice.
HEALTH officials announced Tuesday it issued sanctions against Bayview Pharmacy, located on Tower Hill Rd. in North Kingstown, citing illegal compounding operations and health violations.
The agency said the pharmacy is only licensed to compound medications prescribed by licensed prescribers for specific patients. However, inspectors said records show Bayview had been operating as an unlicensed manufacturer and distributor of sterile injectable medications to both Rhode Island residents and out-of-state customers, located as far away as Illinois.
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