The Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy fined CVS Health for conditions found at four locations in the state, including understaffing issues and errors related to filling prescriptions, according to The New York Times.
The state pharmacy board imposed fines totaling $125,000, including a $75,000 fine for a dosage error at its Owasso location. In the dosage error incident, a teenager received one-fourth of his prescribed dose of an anticonvulsant medication. The teen took the incorrect dosage for 18 days and experienced uncontrollable seizures, according to the report.
In addition to paying the fine, CVS agreed to distribute a memo that highlights a law that requires staff to document and report conditions in the pharmacy that could lead to patient safety lapses, according to The New York Times. The memo must make it clear that staff will not face retaliation for reporting the conditions or lapes, the report said.
While the $125,000 in fines is relatively small for a healthcare giant such as CVS, The New York Times said that it validates concerns raised by pharmacists and technicians in January who said understaffed pharmacies put the public at risk.
The Oklahoma pharmacy board began investigating the claims of inadequate staffing levels at chain drugstores in February.
CVS denied wrongdoing and told The New York Times that the company agreed to the terms to "avoid the time and expense of a protracted hearing process and to foster a positive working relationship" with the pharmacy board.
Read the full report here.