New Haven Pharmacy, Owner Settle Drug Allegations For $120K: Feds

NEW HAVEN, CT —Cornerstone Pharmacy, Inc., also known as Whalley Drug, and its owner, pharmacist Yong Kwon entered into a civil settlement agreement with the federal government and paid $120,000 to resolve allegations that they violated civil provisions of the Controlled Substances Act, federal authorities announced in a news release.

According to the Justice Department's news release:

On June 22, 2021, the DEA served an Administrative Inspection Warrant on Whalley Drug, a retail pharmacy located in New Haven, owned by Kwon, a pharmacist. During execution of the warrant, the DEA interviewed Kwon concerning patients who overdosed after filling prescriptions at Whalley Drug prescribed by certain area practitioners, and Kwon’s practices in filling prescriptions for controlled substances prescribed by area practitioners, officials said in a news release.

The DEA also audited Whalley Drug for its compliance with CSA record keeping requirements, which the government alleges revealed record keeping discrepancies for several controlled substances, officials said in a news release.

The government alleges that, between September 2017 and June 2021, Kwon and Whalley Drug filled prescriptions for controlled substances that had been issued without a legitimate medical purpose, in violation of the pharmacist’s corresponding responsibility to ensure that only valid prescriptions are dispensed, federal officials said in a news release.

The invalid prescriptions included prescriptions for controlled substances to individuals displaying red flags of abuse and addiction; prescriptions to individuals who received dangerous combinations of controlled substances, including the high-risk “holy trinity” drug combination of at least one opioid, benzodiazepine, and a muscle relaxant; excessive and unsafe amounts of benzodiazepines, including for extended periods of time; and one dosage unit of a controlled substance to an individual who was already concurrently receiving two additional dosage units of the same controlled substance from a different provider, federal officials said in a news release.

On June 22, 2021, Kwon agreed to voluntarily surrender the DEA license for Whalley Drug, which no longer operates as a retail pharmacy.