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Woodbine pharmacy agrees to surrender its license
A Woodbine Pharmacy, where a pharmacist was cited for incorrectly filling prescriptions for patients, has agreed to surrender its license. In 2024, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy filed charges against the Food Land Pharmacy of Woodbine, alleging that on July 18, 2023, a Harrison County home-health worker noticed that the medication she was giving her patient did not match the description on the pill bottle. A subsequent investigation revealed that Food Land Pharmacy had provided the patient with the wrong medication, which was a drug that had never been prescribed for the individual. The next day, a woman went to Food Land Pharmacy to pick up a prescription for her son and was given a medication for a different individual.
In October 2023, the board alleged, the pharmacy failed to update its records by removing a “duplicative therapy” for a customer, and as a result, the pharmacy dispensed the wrong strength of his medication for three months. Around that time, another patient was allegedly given a lower-strength medication than was prescribed. The board also alleged that in July and August 2023, Food Land Pharmacy employed Sabine Guinn as a pharmacy technician despite Guinn’s lack of registration as a pharmacy technician. The store failed to determine whether Guinn had the required registration before putting her to work in the store, the board alleges. As part of a settlement agreement with the board, the store agreed to pay a $2,500 civil penalty and have all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians undergo additional training in patient safety and medication errors.
Also in 2024, the Board of Pharmacy alleged that pharmacist Christopher Steele of Underwood had incorrectly filled prescriptions for at least four patients in 2023. Steele told the Iowa Capital Dispatch the errors occurred at the Food Land Pharmacy where he worked. Steele agreed to settle the disciplinary case by paying a $1,000 civil penalty and having his license placed on probation for one to two years.
Earlier this year, the board charged Food Land Pharmacy with 10 additional regulatory violations — an exceptionally large number of violations for a pharmacy of that size.
The charges include failing to follow board rules related to recordkeeping, failing to follow board rules related to temporary pharmacy staff, failing to follow proper procedures related to controlled-substance registrations, failing to follow proper procedures for a change in the pharmacist in charge, failing to follow board rules related to accountability of controlled substances, failing to follow rules related to system security and safeguards, and failing to comply with the required drug utilization review process for a patient.
According to the board, those charges are tied to five separate complaints received by the board in the spring of 2024 and are tied to allegations of poor recordkeeping and lack of oversight concerning controlled substances. Without admitting any wrongdoing, the pharmacy’s representatives recently agreed to surrender the business’s pharmacy license.
Court records show that Steele’s hiring at Food Land resulted in a significant court decision on the scope of a state law that legislators passed in 2022 in an effort to discourage price gouging by staffing agencies working for health care entities. Shortly after the legislation was signed into law, a staffing agency called PharmServ Solutions sued the Food Land store, alleging the store had asked PharmServ to provide a pharmacist for six days in early 2022. PharmServ routed Steele to the job, after which Food Land allegedly hired Steele as a permanent employee of the store’s pharmacy. PharmServ then sued Food Land, alleging the store was refusing to pay an agreed-upon fee of up to $30,000 for Steele’s hiring. Food Land argued the new price-gouging law prohibited employment agencies in the health care field from charging fees when temporary workers were hired by the agency’s clients on a permanent basis. PharmServ argued the law didn’t apply since Food Land was not a “health care entity” as defined by the legislation. A Harrison County judge disagreed and dismissed the lawsuit while ruling that the new law applied to Iowa pharmacies and pharmacists.
In October 2023, the board alleged, the pharmacy failed to update its records by removing a “duplicative therapy” for a customer, and as a result, the pharmacy dispensed the wrong strength of his medication for three months. Around that time, another patient was allegedly given a lower-strength medication than was prescribed. The board also alleged that in July and August 2023, Food Land Pharmacy employed Sabine Guinn as a pharmacy technician despite Guinn’s lack of registration as a pharmacy technician. The store failed to determine whether Guinn had the required registration before putting her to work in the store, the board alleges. As part of a settlement agreement with the board, the store agreed to pay a $2,500 civil penalty and have all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians undergo additional training in patient safety and medication errors.
Also in 2024, the Board of Pharmacy alleged that pharmacist Christopher Steele of Underwood had incorrectly filled prescriptions for at least four patients in 2023. Steele told the Iowa Capital Dispatch the errors occurred at the Food Land Pharmacy where he worked. Steele agreed to settle the disciplinary case by paying a $1,000 civil penalty and having his license placed on probation for one to two years.
Earlier this year, the board charged Food Land Pharmacy with 10 additional regulatory violations — an exceptionally large number of violations for a pharmacy of that size.
The charges include failing to follow board rules related to recordkeeping, failing to follow board rules related to temporary pharmacy staff, failing to follow proper procedures related to controlled-substance registrations, failing to follow proper procedures for a change in the pharmacist in charge, failing to follow board rules related to accountability of controlled substances, failing to follow rules related to system security and safeguards, and failing to comply with the required drug utilization review process for a patient.
According to the board, those charges are tied to five separate complaints received by the board in the spring of 2024 and are tied to allegations of poor recordkeeping and lack of oversight concerning controlled substances. Without admitting any wrongdoing, the pharmacy’s representatives recently agreed to surrender the business’s pharmacy license.
Court records show that Steele’s hiring at Food Land resulted in a significant court decision on the scope of a state law that legislators passed in 2022 in an effort to discourage price gouging by staffing agencies working for health care entities. Shortly after the legislation was signed into law, a staffing agency called PharmServ Solutions sued the Food Land store, alleging the store had asked PharmServ to provide a pharmacist for six days in early 2022. PharmServ routed Steele to the job, after which Food Land allegedly hired Steele as a permanent employee of the store’s pharmacy. PharmServ then sued Food Land, alleging the store was refusing to pay an agreed-upon fee of up to $30,000 for Steele’s hiring. Food Land argued the new price-gouging law prohibited employment agencies in the health care field from charging fees when temporary workers were hired by the agency’s clients on a permanent basis. PharmServ argued the law didn’t apply since Food Land was not a “health care entity” as defined by the legislation. A Harrison County judge disagreed and dismissed the lawsuit while ruling that the new law applied to Iowa pharmacies and pharmacists.
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