Tacoma pharmacy to pay $80,000 federal penalty for Controlled Substances Act violations
Tacoma’s Lincoln Pharmacy will pay $80,000 to resolve claims it failed to properly track narcotics, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle announced Monday.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the pharmacy reached a settlement agreement which stemmed from inspection findings by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA found that Lincoln Pharmacy didn’t comply with some of the administrative requirements of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
“The Controlled Substances Act has requirements for medical professionals and pharmacies so that certain narcotic substances are carefully tracked,” U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said in a news release. “Those requirements are designed to allow DEA to monitor the distribution of these drugs to try to combat abuse and addiction and the harms that follow.”
In June 2021, the DEA found that Lincoln Pharmacy failed to correctly track controlled substances being delivered to the pharmacy. The U.S. Attorney said the pharmacy:
▪ Failed to maintain records on oxycodone and hydrocodone between March 2020 and June 2021.
▪ Maintained inadequate inventories of scheduled drugs.
▪ Failed to keep records of when and how much of certain scheduled drugs were delivered to the pharmacy.
▪ Failed to secure some of the controlled substances.
▪ Failed to keep the “private key” secure — something used to sign DEA orders.
Independently owned Lincoln is paying the $80,000 settlement but does not admit any liability, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. A representative for Lincoln Pharmacy declined comment to The News Tribune on Monday afternoon.
This story was originally published February 27, 2023 at 2:35 PM.
