An Ohio CVS store was a month behind on filling prescriptions. State regulators slapped it with a $250,000 fine.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – State regulators fined a Canton CVS pharmacy $250,000 after discovering it was over a month behind in filling prescriptions, had closed the lobby to all customers not seeking vaccines and sent them to the drive-thru, didn’t have properly working phones and couldn’t check the temperature in cold storage because monitors weren’t working.
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy also put the store at 7292 Fulton Drive, NW, on probation indefinitely, but for a period of at least three years. During that time, the store will be subject to enhanced monitoring, according to a statement from the board.
Amy Thibault, a spokeswoman for Rhode Island-based CVS Pharmacy, said that the company will continue to work with the Ohio Board of Pharmacy collaboratively.
“The allegations stem from BOP inspections in 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’ve made great strides to improve the conditions there in the years since, including putting a strong pharmacy team in place that continues to provide high-quality care to patients,” she said. “We’re committed to ensuring there are appropriate levels of staffing and resources at our pharmacies.”
Regulators discovered the problems and a lack of sufficient staffing in September 2021. The store is just one that’s been under state investigation for insufficient staffing, according to the Ohio Capital Journal. Attorneys for CVS, during hearings before the pharmacy board, have blamed the staffing and other problems on additional responsibilities it gained during the pandemic.
But the Ohio Board of Pharmacy wanted to send a message with the fine announced on Tuesday, said Steven Schierholt, its executive director.
“We hope that this decision will send a strong message to Ohio pharmacies that they have an obligation to serve their patients by ensuring appropriate staffing levels,” he said. “The Board will continue to inspect and hold those accountable for working conditions that endanger patients and pharmacy staff.”
In addition to inspections, the board recently filed a set of rules for public consideration that it believes will strengthen regulations on working conditions in pharmacies.
The 2021 investigation found high levels of staff turnover at the Canton store. All pharmacy staff at the September 2021 inspection had quit or transferred to another store when the state regulators followed up about 40 days later, the state investigation said.
At the first inspection, board staff noticed two open totes from a wholesale distributor on the counter next to the window and accessible from outside the pharmacy barricade. An unlocked freezer containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was outside of the pharmacy barricade. The door between the pharmacy and vaccination room was kept open with a magnet inside the door jam, according to the investigation.
CVS pharmacy staff and an assistant store manager asked district leaders to temporarily close down the store so they could catch up on unfilled prescriptions, as well as to clean and organize the pharmacy. The request was denied, as was a request for additional staff, the investigation said.
At 7:30 p.m. each night, the pharmacy technician at the Canton CVS store had to walk out to the drive thru and notify waiting patients that the store closes at 9 p.m., and they would not be able to get medications after then, as the CVS system shuts down, according to the investigation.
State regulators found the store was over a month late in filling prescriptions in its October follow-up, roughly 40 days later. The pharmacy staff were trying to triage to ensure they could fill lifesaving and life-sustaining medications, such as antibiotics, pain meds and birth control.
The proposed Ohio Board of Pharmacy rules include requirements for pharmacies to develop a process to address staffing concerns, ensure pharmacy employees receive rest breaks and bans the use of quotas to perform work tasks. Pharmacists inside stores would get more power over staffing to ensure most prescriptions are filled within 72 hours.
The pharmacy board told CVS in Canton that prescriptions must be filled in a maximum of three business days after it was dropped off. If it cannot be filled in that time, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy must be notified.
CVS shall not retaliate against or discipline a pharmacist, pharmacy technician, trainee, intern or other employee who communicates a request for additional staff or reports staffing concerns to the state, the board states.
Pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and interns shall not be required to administer vaccines when only a single pharmacist is on duty, and in that pharmacist’s professional judgment, the vaccine cannot be administered safely, the board states.
Filed under: General Problems
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