Henry County pharmacy will stop compounding medications after 3 kids were hospitalized, state board says

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Henry County pharmacy will stop compounding medications after three children were sent to the hospital, the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy said Thursday.

In an emergency called meeting on Aug. 28, the board agreed to an order with Med Save Pharmacy that will require the Eminence facility to "cease all compounding and dispensing of compounded medications."

The state board said Thursday it believes the three kids who were hospitalized were the only ones who given the compounded clonidine. The incident appears isolated to Med Save Pharmacy in Eminence, investigators believe.

An inspection done by the state board Aug. 26 came back with "significant findings" that weren't in compliance with state and federal law, the board said Thursday. Those include:

Lack of documented training of pharmacy personnel
Lack of appropriate pharmacist oversight, including the verification by a pharmacist of compounding procedures and final compounded preparations
Missing or inappropriate documentation for compounding records and pharmaceutical ingredient storage condition

"The Kentucky Board of Pharmacy will continue the investigation into the alleged medication error that led to the hospitalization of three children," the board said in a news release Thursday. "... It is our job to find out what happened and take appropriate action to ensure the safety of the people of Kentucky."

Over the weekend, Henry County EMS posted a message on Facebook with this warning: "If your child has been prescribed clonidine oral suspension and it was filled at Med Save in Eminence, DO NOT administer it to your child. We have reason to believe that there is something wrong with their shipment. DO NOT USE."

WDRB News went to Henry County Monday, but no one from Med Save would agree to an interview. In a phone call to the pharmacy Tuesday, a man who identified himself as the owner said he was not commenting.

According to the National Institutes for Health website, clonidine is "an antihypertensive drug that lowers blood pressure and heart rate by relaxing the arteries and increasing the blood supply to the heart; it has other FDA-approved indications such as treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children; management of tics commonly found with Tourette syndrome; and adjunct therapy for severing cancer-related pain."

Christopher Harlow, executive director of the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy, said the board learned about the local health alert from EMS on Monday and also received several phone calls.

"We advise patients to contact their pharmacist if they have any specific questions related to their medications," the board said in a news release Thursday. "Anyone who experiences a medication error should seek medical attention."

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