NORFOLK, Va. – Institutional Pharmacy Solutions, LLC (IPS), headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle civil penalty claims involving controlled substances being dispensed by IPS’s Virginia Beach Retail Pharmacy.
In a parallel administrative proceeding, IPS will surrender its DEA registration for the Virginia Beach Retail Pharmacy, which will foreclose that pharmacy location from dispensing controlled substance medications.
IPS fills prescriptions for patients in long term care facilities and operates pursuant to a certificate of registration issued by the DEA. Through its Virginia Beach Retail Pharmacy, IPS uses Automated Dispensing Systems (ADS) to provide prescription drugs, including controlled substance medications, to residents at long-term care facilities.
In accordance with the DEA’s regulatory authority over registered pharmacies, DEA Diversion Investigators conducted a two-year investigation that examined the controlled substances prescriptions filled by IPS’s Virginia Beach Retail Pharmacy. This investigation revealed numerous instances where IPS’s Virginia Beach Retail Pharmacy violated the Controlled Substance Act (CSA). The failure to comply with prescription and recordkeeping requirements can cause the potential for unauthorized persons to access controlled substances and compromise effective accountability for controlled substances.
Under the terms of a parallel administrative proceeding, IPS will surrender its DEA registration for the Virginia Beach Retail Pharmacy, which will foreclose that pharmacy location from dispensing controlled substance medications on January 12, 2017. Until January 12, 2017, IPS will be allowed to continue to dispense prescribed controlled substances to its ADS from the IPS Virginia Beach Retail Pharmacy. The extended surrender deadline is to provide the long-term care facilities with adequate time to make alternative arrangements to address their controlled substance medication needs.
The resolutions obtained in this matter were the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the DEA’s Washington Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Sponseller and Clare Wuerker handled the CSA civil penalty matter. The resolution also resolves a parallel administrative action, In the Matter of Institutional Pharmacy Solutions, LLC, Docket No. 16-35 (Drug Enforcement Admin. August 2016). The administrative action was handled by Scott Levin and Krista Tongring of the DEA Diversion & Regulatory Litigation Office of Chief Counsel.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.