PHARMACY regulators usually investigate misconduct, but in a rare role reversal, the Alabama Pharmacy Board is being put under the microscope for its actions.
The US State's Attorney-General, Steve Marshall, has stepped in to take over a case involving a pharmacist who was previously "caught up in a Federal sting operation targeting online painkiller distribution", and served three years behind bars, the Alabama Political Reporter revealed.
Marshall's office has dismissed charges against pharmacist, Billy Flint East, who was suspended from practicing by the Board in Mar for failing to obtain a proper clearance from the US Drug Enforcement Agency because of his previous conviction for unlawfully dispensing prescription medications.
East's lawyer noted that his employer, Brooklere Pharmacy, had been given the all-clear to hire him by the Board, before it moved to suspend him.
Reinstating East's license, Marshall said "credible allegations have been made about the handling of this matter by employees of the Alabama Pharmacy Board, which are now under investigation".
It is believed the Attorney-General's intervention in East's case may be the first of a number of similar actions, with Marshall looking to prevent regulators from overstepping their authority.
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