Vermont complaint charges Walgreens with improper conduct, unexpected closures

Hunter Oberst, The Keene Sentinel, N.H.
·3 min read
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Jul. 3—Vermont regulators filed a 40-page complaint against Walgreens Pharmacy, calling for disciplinary action to be taken, up to and including revoking its license to dispense medication in the state.

Unexpected store closures, failure to comply with federal statutes, unsafe practice and "engaging in conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public" were among the allegations filed against the pharmacy chain by the Office of Professional Regulation, which operates under the Vermont Secretary of State's Office.

Walgreens has 32 locations licensed by Vermont pharmacies, including two in Brattleboro and one in Bellows Falls.

According to the report, Walgreens has faced significant staffing shortages, which regulators allege resulted in unanticipated store closures across the state, aggregating to more than 325 days of closures from July 2020 to April 2022. The complaint further alleged that this also led to unsafe pharmacy conditions.

The complaint states that on May 12, 2021, the Brattleboro pharmacy on Putney Road "was in a state of significant disorganization, with prescription vials and pills on the floor, two unlabeled vials on shelves with a variety of pills in them, cluttered counter space and generally unclean conditions."

The following day, Walgreens' district manager directed the pharmacist to close the store through that Friday, which the complaint alleges resulted in several patients, unaware of the store closure, unable to obtain their medication for those days or having to go to other store locations.

Regulators found the store closure was not reported to the board of pharmacy within 48 hours. According to the Vermont Secretary of State's Office, a licensee must also notify the general public of the closure and where they can pick up their medication, which the complaint alleges the store did not do.

The complaint further alleges that the Brattleboro store on Canal Street operated without a pharmacist-manager, in violation of state law, for about four months in 2021, and reported more than 20 medication errors between Jan. 1 and Nov. 15 of last year. The store in Bellows Falls allegedly operated without a pharmacist-manager for about five months from 2020 to 2021.

On Jan. 26 of last year, a patient of the pharmacy in Bellows Falls filled a prescription for the antidepressant fluoxetine. The complaint states that instead of receiving 10 mg of medication, as ordered by her physician, she realized she received 20 mg in late February, and had been on a higher dosage for more than a month.

According to the complaint, the pharmacy technician who made the filling error for the patient's prescription said that due to staff turnover, change in pharmacists and COVID-19, the work environment is "very hectic."

The pharmacist who reviewed the complaint believed the error in filling the prescription was caused by a returned-to-stock bottle of 20 mg pills being placed in the wrong section of the shelving with the 10 mg bottle.

The Office of Professional Regulation filed the complaint June 21. Walgreens has 20 days to respond to the allegations, which the state will be asked to prove before the Vermont Board of Pharmacy.

Hunter Oberst can be reached at 355-8585, or hoberst@keenesentinel.com.