Eastport’s only pharmacy has closed after state regulators revoked its license over multiple violations involving controlled substances, recordkeeping and employee training.
Eastport Family Pharmacy, which opened in 2014, lost its license under a consent agreement signed July 23. The closure leaves residents with the nearest pharmacy about 28 miles away in Calais.
State investigators found the pharmacy filled a 70-tablet prescription for clonazepam, a controlled substance, three times within one week even though the prescription had no refills. Two of the extra prescriptions were delivered to the patient’s home.
Inspectors also reported expired medications, sanitation problems, years-old unclaimed prescriptions — including controlled substances — and inadequate monitoring and recordkeeping. Regulators said hundreds of prescriptions lacked a pharmacist of record, while a pharmacy technician involved in the dispensing error reportedly had received no formal training.
Federal drug enforcement agents seized controlled-substance records from the Eastport pharmacy and its sister location, Machias Family Pharmacy, in February. No charges have been filed in connection with those raids.
Both pharmacies are owned by Bangor pharmacist Benjamin Okafor. The Machias location remains open, although it was previously fined $5,000 for operating without a supervisory pharmacist.
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