29-05-2025
After child's drug overdose, Iowa pharmacy is fined $500 for prescription error
Houck Pharmacy of Mason City, Iowa. (Photo via Google Earth)
An Iowa pharmacy has been fined $500 for committing an error that resulted in a child's drug overdose.
The Iowa Board of Pharmacy recently charged Houck Pharmacy of Mason City with incorrectly compounding a medication resulting in an overdose to a minor patient. The available board records give no indication as to the patient outcome or when the incident occurred.
The board charged Houck Pharmacy with five regulatory violations: dispensing an incorrect medication to a patient; failure to comply with regulations related to compounding nonsterile preparations; failure to include all of the required information in compounding records; failure to maintain a perpetual inventory of Schedule II narcotics; and failure to maintain a controlled substance accountability program.
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To resolve the case, Houck Pharmacy has agreed to pay a $500 civil penalty and have its pharmacy license placed on probation for 12 months.
In a related matter, Hillary Lee Lunning of Mason City was charged by the board with incorrectly compounding a medication resulting in an overdose to a minor patient.
The available board documents give no indication as to where or when the alleged violation occurred, but corporate records indicate Lunning is the president of Houck Drug Co., which operates Houck Pharmacy.
Lunning has agreed to pay a $500 civil penalty and have her license placed on probation for one year.
A central Iowa pharmacist has agreed to refrain from practicing in Iowa.
According to the Iowa Board of Pharmacy, Jeffrey Bates of Indianola has agreed to refrain from practicing any aspect of pharmacy in Iowa in order to 'meet the board's interest in protecting the public.'
The publicly available board documents provide no information as to what led to the agreement but stipulates that Bates is 'unable to practice' due to an administrative regulation that relates to pharmacists 'diverting prescription drugs from a pharmacy for personal use or for distribution.'
Although the board has not disclosed where Bates worked at the time of the alleged regulatory violation, his National Provider Identifier records indicate he has worked at the Hy-Vee pharmacy at 910 N. Jefferson Way in Indianola.
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