21 CT pharmacies were hit with state fines to date this year. Here’s why and where.
If a diabetic goes to the drug store to pick store insulin, only to find the pharmacy closed, it can be a health emergency.
There has even been a case of someone dying because of an unscheduled closing of a pharmacy, according to Rod Marriott, director of drug control for the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.
That’s why there are rules governing pharmacies’ opening hours and fines for when they close without notice, Marriott said.
And so far this year, the state Pharmacy Commission has found 21 cases of Walgreens and Rite Aid pharmacies that closed, usually for a day or more, without proper notice. Both companies said they have policies in place to address informing both the state and patients of closures, as well as for minimum disruptions.
There were no other chain or independent pharmacies in the commission’s minutes for this year, through June 28.
“Let’s just consider diabetes medicine,” Marriott said. “If you can’t take your insulin and you don’t have it, you can’t get it that easily. It could be life or death for you. … Not every medicine is that dire. But many are, depending on your condition.”
That’s why Connecticut has made it so that pharmacists can prescribe insulin. “For the purpose of this law, they can do it one time,” Marriott said. “It was designed, really, to help patients who were out of refills and maybe the doctor was unreachable. That was the story that happened … where a patient died because they didn’t have any refills left.”
But that law won’t help if the pharmacy is closed and there isn’t another close by. That’s why the state takes pharmacy closings seriously, he said.
“I think it really starts with this premise that when you have a pharmacy, there’s a declaration of the number of hours that you’re going to be open,” Marriott said. “And there’s a minimum in our rules of 35 hours per week unless you have a waiver. And it’s really for public health and safety, the idea that patients need to pick up their medications. Their medications are a critical part of their treatment.”
According to state regulations, pharmacies can only close if the pharmacist cannot work and cannot find a replacement. It can only be for one day, can happen no more than 18 times a year and no more than twice in a 30-day period. Any closing must be reported within 72 hours.
Patients also must be notified of the closure and told where they can pick up their prescriptions. However, that doesn’t always solve the problem, Marriott said.
“The next complication really becomes your insurance company,” he said.
“Let’s just say the CVS was open and the Walgreens was one of these ones that were closed,” he said. “If you had the prescription filled at Walgreens and you went to the CVS that was open to your insurance, the Walgreens store would have told the insurance company that they filled this prescription. And so you go to CVS and CVS may not be able to reverse that claim from that other store and … they can’t necessarily fill the prescription through your insurance at that time.”
A chain like Walgreens is on a computer system and any Walgreens can fill the prescription. However, Marriott said, “The hard part is how convenient are they to you?” he said. “If you go to a pharmacy in your town today, if there’s not another one for 15 miles, if you have an issue where you don’t have transportation, or the other pharmacy is not on a convenient bus route … that’s an extra burden on the patient.”
While the Department of Consumer Protection regulates pharmacies and investigates reports of those that violate regulations, Kaitlyn Krasselt, spokeswoman for the department, said, “In general, our licensees want to do the right thing. They want to help consumers. They run a business. They’re very good licensees. They want to follow the laws. … Sometimes things happen because they’re all people with families and other things going on.”
She added that consumers should report instances of violations of the regulations.
Karen May, spokeswoman for Walgreen Co., issued a statement saying, “Whenever there is a temporary closure, our policies call for us to make every effort possible to notify the Department of Consumer Protection and to proactively communicate the closure to our patients. We have also taken action to reinforce our compliance requirements with our team members.”
Catherine Carter, spokeswoman for Rite Aid, issued a statement: “We have procedures that we enact in the event of an emergency when a pharmacy or store is unable to open. These include notifying customers through a number of channels and ensuring minimal interruption in meeting customers’ health and wellness needs.”
Following are the cases adjudicated by the Pharmacy Commission this year, with all information from the commission records and public meeting minutes. In some cases there were violations in addition to unscheduled closings.
Rite Aid, 3680 Main St., Stratford
Four unscheduled closings in a short period, resolved when the location was able to address a staffing shortage. The location failed to timely report the closures to the Commission of Pharmacy within 72 hours as required.
Voluntary settlement: $1,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 436 Whalley Ave., New Haven
Failure to remain open at least 35 hours per week, failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements, failure to be managed by a pharmacy manager on a full-time basis, failure to notify the commission of Pharmacy of a change of pharmacy manager, failure to notify the commission of the absence of a pharmacy manager for more than 16 consecutive days, failure to notify the commission of the absence of a pharmacy manager for more than 42 consecutive days, and failure to appropriately enroll a new pharmacy manager with the required information.
Voluntary settlement: $12,500.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 1697 Whitney Ave., Hamden
Unscheduled closings and related reporting failures and failure to enroll approved pharmacy manager with the Commission of Pharmacy.
Voluntary settlement: $2,500.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 825 E. Main St., Meriden
Failure to remain open at least 35 hours per week and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $3,500.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 1203 High Ridge Road, Stamford
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $10,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 28 E. Elm St., Torrington
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $4,000.
Community, A Walgreens Pharmacy, 300 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport
During a routine inspection, violations found: unscheduled closings and related reporting; controlled substance record keeping; failure to report diabetic/diabetic ketoacidosis devices to the Prescription Monitoring Database Program.
Voluntary settlement: $6,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 275 Monroe Turnpike, Monroe
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $4,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 54 West Ave., Norwalk
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $2,000.
Walgreens, 700 Bridgeport Ave., Shelton
Unscheduled closings, failure to notify the Commission of Pharmacy of a change of pharmacy manager, failure to notify the commission of the absence of a pharmacy manager for more than 16 consecutive days and failure to appropriately enroll a new pharmacy manager with the required information.
Voluntary settlement: $2,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 331 West St., Litchfield
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $2,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 46A Danbury Road, Ridgefield
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $6,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 1606 Barnum Ave., Stratford
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $1,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 414 Kings Highway East, Fairfield
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $3,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 4083 Main St., Bridgeport
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $2,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, Terryville
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $1,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 11 Meriden Road, Waterbury
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $2,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 960 North Ave., Bridgeport
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $5,000.
Rite Aid, 605 N. Colony Road, Wallingford
Investigated after complaints of closures. This is respondent’s first investigation for unscheduled closings or failure to give notice to the commission of such closings.
Voluntary settlement: $1,500.
Walgreens, 157 Main St., East Haven
Investigated following a report of unscheduled closures. It was determined that there were several partial or complete closures. For some of the closures, the Commission of Pharmacy was not timely notified. Additionally, due to some early closures, the pharmacy operated below 35 hours of operation at times.
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $2,500.
Walgreens, 1471 Whalley Ave., New Haven
Investigated following a report of unscheduled closures. It was determined that there were several partial or complete closures. For some of the closures, the Commission of Pharmacy was not timely notified. Due to some early closures, the pharmacy operated below 35 hours of operation. Additionally, there was a period with no active pharmacy manager and a related failure to timely notify the Commission of Pharmacy.
Voluntary settlement: $3,000.
Ed Stannard can be reached at estannard@courant.com.
