Boston – The United States has reached a civil settlement with retailer Supervalu Pharmacies, resolving allegations that an Osco pharmacy in Burlington maintained deficient records, violating federal regulations and making it impossible to tell whether the pharmacy appropriately handled controlled substances.
Supervalu, which owns Osco, has agreed to pay $55,000 and to submit to increased oversight for a period of three years in order to settle the allegations.
The United States contended that the pharmacists at the Burlington Osco kept deficient records of the controlled substances the pharmacy was handling. In December 2011, Supervalu filed a Report of Theft or Loss of Controlled Substances with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), reporting the loss of thousands of dollars’ worth of controlled substances from the Burlington pharmacy. A revised report submitted by the company several months later also showed substantial losses. The DEA’s investigation revealed that the Burlington Osco was missing required inventory and transfer records, and that certain pharmacists there had informally traded drugs with neighboring pharmacies. Those trades may have included controlled substances, although the pharmacists in question denied this. Supervalu has terminated the pharmacists believed responsible for the violations and has fully cooperated with the DEA’s investigation.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and John Arvanitis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Boston Field Division made the announcement today. The investigation was conducted by the Boston Office of the DEA’s Diversion Group. The case was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Brian Pérez-Daple of Ortiz’s Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit.
