The Wyoming State Board of Pharmacy continues to refuse public comment on its shutdown of a Cheyenne pharmacy that illegally compounded and dispensed medications.
About halfway through the board’s meeting Tuesday, state Rep. Jeanette Ward, R-Casper, asked if public comment would be allowed on the disciplinary action taken against City Drug, to which board chair Brenda Upton curtly responded, “No, we’re going to stick to our agenda.”
Ward ended up leaving a comment in the online chat room of the meeting anyway.
“Since you are not going to take public comment I will make a comment here,” Ward said. “It appears that you’re holding the pharmacy to a standard that hasn’t been formally set by the board.”
Ward lost her Republican primary reelection bid in August and will be out of office in a few weeks.
The board has stated 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.
In October, Upton said in a letter City Drug’s actions rose to a level the board had not seen in recent history.
What’s It About?
Ward believes the board is trying to drive out pharmacy competition in Cheyenne.
In October, 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 business, Kelsey James, will have her individual pharmacy license suspended for three years and has to sell the business within six months.
Another chief concern for the board brought up in the settlement agreement was that City Drug produced a fraudulent label for compounded medication after it was already told it could not fill these types of prescriptions.
Within the settlement agreement are requirements that James sell her business within six months, individually pay a fine of $10,000, and City Drug pay a fine of $48,386. Most of the fee City Drug must pay is to compensate for the net profit it received for dispensing semaglutide when it wasn't supposed to.
By signing the agreement, James also forgoes her right to challenge the board in court.
James’ attorney Tom Rumpke said City Drug is now having trouble paying the finance agreements arranged in the settlement and requested an extension to pay her fines until Feb. 28. The board unanimously rejected this request on a 5-0 vote.
Rumpke explained that James was able to pay these dues at the time of the settlement agreement, but shortly after, a $200,000 Small Business Administration loan to her business was recalled as a result of the board’s actions.
Later on in the meeting when Rumpke attempted to further explain this point, Upton interrupted him.
“This is a settlement agreement that she agreed on,” Upton said. “She agreed to this settlement, you act like she did not. I want to make it crystal clear that she agreed to this settlement before it came into place.”
Ward disagreed with this conclusion and said James was “forced to” agree to the settlement terms.
“What choice do they have?” Ward questioned. “It may or not be as it appears but your refusal to take public comment is very concerning.”
Asking Favors?
Upton also expressed frustration that James is asking for more leniency from the board when Upton believes the board has already “given her a lot of leeway” while James “did more things,” in possible reference to the fact that James had not yet completed some of the other requirements in the settlement.
“If she’s thinking that they’re (settlement terms) not required, that she doesn’t have to do them and she’s asking more of us, I don’t like it,” Upton said.
Rumpke said City Drug is in negotiations with financial institutions to get a new loan to pay her fines.
City Drug drafted recall notices to be sent to its customers that received the illegally-compounded medication. A few members of the board on Tuesday criticized the format City Drug proposed in one of its recall notices, which Upton believed cast blame on the board for the recall.
“She (James) put herself into this predicament, we did not put her there,” Upton said.
Rumpke said no compounding has taken place at the facility since March.
A highly contentious meeting on the pharmacy was held in September 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.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
