Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Pharmacy failed to comply with drug laws
Tick Klock Drug, located on Colfax's Main Street.
COLFAX – A local pharmacy has been fined for dispensing drugs to patients with questionable prescriptions between January and July 2022 for failing to properly monitor the sale of "Sudafed" from 2017-2022
Tick Klock Drug, 109 S. Main St., was fined $20,000 in U.S. District Court in Spokane on Tuesday, Aug. 1, for failing to vet prescriptions properly, U.S. District Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref said. The company also entered into an agreement with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to properly monitor and track the sale of pseudoephedrine.
Under the agreement, Tick Klock Drug is required to physically verify pseudoephedrine inventory quarterly and provide the audit information to the DEA. To ensure the company doesn't sell pseudoephedrine illegally, company employees will also have to undergo training on the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005.
Moreover, Tick Klock employees will not be allowed to sell pseudoephedrine to themselves.
According to Waldref, the fine and agreement follow the company's failure to properly vet prescriptions and follow pseudoephedrine sales laws requirements under the Controlled Substances Act and the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005.
The latter law was enacted to curtail the use of drugs that could be used to make methamphetamine.
"Pharmacies serve a vital gatekeeper function in keeping our residents safe and healthy, preventing the diversion of dangerous drugs, and combatting addiction," she said.
Under federal law, pharmacies are required to take steps to make sure opioid and other medications are dispensed with proper prescriptions, making sure they are legitimate, safe and medically appropriate. In addition, they are required to follow pseudoephedrine sales rules established under the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act.
Court records show the pharmacy failed to meet the requirements limiting the sale of pseudoephedrine to a single individual in a 30-day window and failed to maintain sales records, display warning signs, get a purchaser's signature and verify a person's identity, among other violations.
In the settlement agreement, Tick Klock Drug admitted it did not always manage prescription drugs and the sale of pseudoephedrine in accordance with federal law.
Tick Klock Drug admitted that from January to July, 2022, it filled controlled substance prescriptions written by physicians or other medical providers that contained "red flags."
Those red flags included indications of fraud, lack of medical necessity, potential for abuse or health risk, or potential for diversion, without first resolving those red flags prior to dispensing the medications, Waldref said. These red flags included multiple patients for whom Tick Klock Drug filled prescriptions for a potentially dangerous and medically-inappropriate combination of an opioid, a benzodiazepine, and a muscle relaxant known as the "holy trinity."
In the agreement, the company also acknowledged that between 2017 and 2022, the company violated the requirements for the sale of pseudoephedrine.
Records show Tick Klock Dug employees purchased pseudoephedrine without having to provide a signature.
"Pharmacies have a critical role to play in protecting the public and keeping our communities safe and strong," Waldref said. "I'm grateful that Tick Klock Drug accepted responsibility and has entered into a robust agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration to ensure that it complies with its obligations going forward."
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington and DEA's Seattle Field Division, Diversion Group investigated the violations, Waldref said.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dan Fruchter and Tyler H.L. Tornabene prosecuted the matter and negotiated the agreement.
Roger Harnack is the co-owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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