Nine state legislators at a Wyoming State Board of Pharmacy meeting early Wednesday morning did nothing to persuade the board to allow the public to comment on its decision to suspend the license of a popular Cheyenne pharmacy.
State Rep. Jeanette Ward, R-Casper, called the board out during the virtual meeting discussing disciplinary action against City Drug Pharmacy and Mercantile in downtown Cheyenne. City Drug has been accused of illegally compounding and dispensing medications.
“Excuse me, I don’t understand if this is a public meeting how there isn’t public comment allowed?” Ward questioned.
In response, Wyoming Senior Assistant Attorney General Melissa Bartley reiterated that since an investigation into the disciplinary matter with City Drug is still considered ongoing, the board couldn’t take any public comment on it.
This came after a highly contentious meeting last month where public comment was once again not allowed, and a woman had to be escorted out by law enforcement after refusing to stop talking when the board reconvened from a break.
Ward told Cowboy State Daily after the meeting Wednesday she found it “deeply troubling” the board continues to bar public comment, which she equated to doing “business in the dark.” She said accommodations should have been made to avoid this perception.
“That small group was dealing with the professional license — a property right — of one individual and the jobs of 26 individuals,” Ward said. “And they made it appear corrupt. Government shouldn’t operate this way.”
The pharmacy board had ordered City Drug to stop filling prescriptions in mid-September after citing an “immediate threat to public health and safety.”
This came from an allegation that the business illegally made a compounded medication and dispersed it to a patient in Wheatland with false prescription labels. Since March, City Drug had already been under an advisement to not compound any medications.
Settlement Agreement
By a 5-1 vote Wednesday, the board approved a settlement agreement allowing City Drug to continue filling prescriptions while serving a three-year stayed suspension, with certain requirements and stipulations in place.
As part of the settlement agreement, the owner of the facility, Kelsey James, will have her individual pharmacy license suspended for three years.
“I’m sorry that we are here,” said board member Kerri Kilgore. “But I’m thankful we are not here because people actually got sick or died in other cases of non-sterile compounding of sterile product.”
Board chair Brenda Upton agreed and said, “I think we all feel the same way too.”
James was not immediately available for comment on the agreement, which as of late afternoon Wednesday she still hadn't signed.
The City Drug in Cheyenne is not affiliated with the City Drug in Evanston.
Settling The Settlement
The board had also met briefly Monday to review the settlement agreement. This meeting, which did not allow public comment, was also attended by a number of legislators.
Shortly after the board convened at 7 a.m. Wednesday, it went into a 24-minute closed session to review the agreement further.
City Drug’s attorney Tom Rumpke said he had sent over a proposal for a lower, one-year license suspension for James, but the board rejected it. The final settlement was a result of a counteroffer from the board.
In a September letter to the editor in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Wyoming Office of Administrative Hearings Senior Examiner Robert Walters questioned the board’s legal authority in revoking City Drug’s license.
“Government, including the (Board of Pharmacy), also is supposed to be transparent, not only to the persons who are under their authority,” he wrote. “It seems that the BOP should determine they are on solid ground. From appearances, I would question it.”
Public Scrutiny
During the contentious meeting in September, more than 100 people showed up, mostly in support of City Drug, which they viewed as being treated unfairly by the state board.
Boards like these rarely if ever see this level of public attention.
As a result of the contentious meeting in September, the board held their next meeting in a separate room that could only be viewed virtually by the public and continued to prohibit public comment.
When the board convened at 7 a.m., more than 40 people were in attendance in the virtual meeting, including the nine state legislators, almost all members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.
Gov. Mark Gordon is in charge of appointing members to the Pharmacy Board. A spokesperson for the governor told Cowboy State Daily in September he doesn’t plan to weigh in on the City Drug situation.
“The board operates independently from the Governor's Office in its capacity as a regulatory body for the practice of pharmacy in Wyoming,” said Michael Pearlman, a spokesperson for the governor. “Importantly, those on the board are volunteers who are charged with protecting the health and safety of Wyoming residents, and its members take their duties seriously.”
But in April, Gordon forced a Casper radiologist off a different medical board for lobbying lawmakers on a particular bill.
In 2022, the State Loan and Investment Board of which Gordon is a member approved $6.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for a new Healthworks facility in Cheyenne to be located near City Drug and offer its own pharmacy. Patrick Fitzgerald is a nurse who worked with Healthworks until 2023, who's also a current member of the pharmacy board that was appointed by Gordon. Both he and his wife Rebekah Fitzgerald were leadership members of Gordon’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
