Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Northern Virginia--Winchester pharmacist suspended


^ Posted 7 hours ago
By Sally Voth
A Winchester pharmacist has been suspended by the State Board of Pharmacy.
The board suspended Russell T. Lederhouse's license on March 1, according to an order available through online records.
Online documents state that Lederhouse was the pharmacist-in-charge at The Wellness Pharmacy, 2228E Papermill Road, Winchester.
An online statement of particulars indicates the pharmacy was inspected Dec. 19, and numerous violations found, including:
• Lederhouse didn't apply for approval to remodel the pharmacy.
• He allowed the prescription department to be unsecured.
• A perpetual inventory of Schedule 2 drugs was not kept.
"More specifically, he stated that almost all his Schedule II drugs were powders, and he stopped weighing the drugs because he would lose too much drug in the weighing process," the document states.
• Numerous high-risk compounding-sterile preparations hadn't been recorded as having had sterility testing.
• About 30 of 100 stock bottles of drugs tested were expired.
• A pharmacy intern wasn't properly supervised while preparing high-risk compounds.
Bruce Kowiatek, the acting pharmacist-in-charge at The Wellness Pharmacy, said Tuesday afternoon that Lederhouse is restricted to administrative duties at this time.
He said the pharmacy is a compounding one.
"They're basically kind of like special medications that are kind of all made for the patient according to the doctor's orders," he explained.
Contact staff writer Kim Walter at 540-465-5137 ext. 191, or kwalter@nvdaily.com


1 comment:

Kenneth Woliner, MD said...

So one rogue pharmacist is suspended and another pharmacist takes his place. Sounds a lot like the Oxycontin Pill Mill docs in Florida. One doc gets suspended and the unlicensed clinic owner just hires someone else off Craigslist to take his place.

Ken Woliner, MD
www.holisticfamilymed.com