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Three Iowa Walgreens stores, including a location in North Liberty, have been fined by the state for medication-dispensing errors, two of which date back to early 2023.
In one Iowa Board of Pharmacy case, the board alleged that a Walgreens store in North Liberty, identified in federal records as the store at 625 Pacha Parkway, on Feb. 27, 2023, dispensed “liquid infant vitamin drops” that had expired three weeks earlier. The board alleges the store’s quality-control records related to the error failed to include a detailed description of the event or the cause of the error.
The store was charged with dispensing an incorrect prescription and failing to have completed a continuous quality-improvement report of the incident. To resolve the matter, the store agreed to accept a warning and pay a $2,000 civil penalty.
In another case, one of the Walgreens stores in Urbandale, identified in federal records as the store at 4600 86th St., dispensed a prescription medicine with the wrong label on April 15, 2024.
To resolve the case, the store agreed to accept a warning and pay a $1,000 civil penalty.
In the other case, the board alleged that a Walgreens store located in Marshalltown, identified in federal records as the store at 5 E. Anson St., dispensed a prescription medication on March 27, 2023, for guanfacine, a drug often used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, for a minor. In filling the prescription, the store mistakenly included one capsule of propranolol, a beta-blocker often used to treat high blood pressure, in the bottle.
The board alleges the store’s quality-control records related to the error failed to include the root cause of the incident, the name of the individual that analyzed the event or the date it was created.
The store was charged with dispensing an incorrect prescription and failing to have completed a continuous quality improvement report of the incident. To resolve the matter, the store agreed to accept a warning and pay a $2,000 civil penalty.
The Board of Pharmacy has not disclosed whether any patients were adversely affected by the errors.
This article originally appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
