St. Charles Costco fined $20K for infraction

The pharmacy at the Costco in St. Charles recently was fined $20,000 for a 25-minute stretch in May 2010 in which prescriptions were dispensed without a pharmacist present.

The fine was imposed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation in April after a hearing in which Costco admitted the mistake.

The warehouse manager at the Costco opened the pharmacy on May 1 when the substitute pharmacist was delayed, according to state documents, and prescriptions were issued between 9:48 a.m. and 10:17 a.m.

Sue Hofer, spokeswoman for the department, said the fine is higher than the usual $500 to $1,000 imposed on individual pharmacists because in this case the violation was blamed on the corporation.

Of the 21 fines issued to pharmacists in April, the most recent figure available, the St. Charles penalty was the second-highest.

Glenbrook Hospital Outpatient Pharmacy in Glenview and Evanston Hospital Pharmacy in Evanston, along with three satellite locations, were each fined $25,000 for employing a person who practiced as a pharmacist without a license from August 2009 through March 2010, according to the state.

A phone message left at the Costco corporate office was not immediately returned.