COBigRed, Inc. d/b/a Hometown Pharmacy & Medical

Trinidad, CO 2017--2023 Independent Pharmacies

DEA DOJ Dea Controlled Substance Diversion Dea Red Flag Failure Csa Civil Judgment

Penalty

$250,000

Outcome

COBigRed Inc. (Hometown Pharmacy & Medical, Trinidad CO) agreed to pay $250,000 civil settlement 2023 for filling controlled substance prescriptions from January 2017 through December 2023 that were not for legitimate medical purposes, including high-dose opioids, drug combinations, cash-pay patients with insurance, long-distance patients, and early-refill patients.

Details

COBigRed, Inc. d/b/a Hometown Pharmacy & Medical — $250,000 Settlement for 7-Year Red Flag Pattern (2023)

Outcome: COBigRed, Inc., operating Hometown Pharmacy & Medical in Trinidad, Colorado, agreed to pay $250,000 in civil penalties in a 2023 settlement to resolve allegations that between January 2017 and December 2023 the pharmacy violated the Controlled Substances Act by filling controlled substance prescriptions that were not valid because they were not issued for a legitimate medical purpose or were issued outside the usual course of professional practice.

Hometown Pharmacy & Medical was a pharmacy in Trinidad, Colorado, operated by COBigRed, Inc. The government alleged that over the course of nearly seven years — January 2017 through December 2023 — the pharmacy filled prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids, that were not valid. The violations encompassed five identifiable categories of red flags that went unresolved: prescriptions for high daily doses of opioids; prescriptions for dangerous drug combinations; prescriptions for patients who had insurance coverage but paid in cash; prescriptions for patients who traveled long distances to the pharmacy; and prescriptions for patients who repeatedly sought early refills before their current supply should have been exhausted.

The presence of all five of these red flag categories simultaneously over a seven-year period indicates a systemic failure to exercise the corresponding responsibility required of pharmacists under the Controlled Substances Act. The $250,000 civil settlement was resolved through the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado, with DEA involvement.

Primary Source: DOJ USAO-CO — Southern Colorado Pharmacy Agrees to Pay $250,000 to Resolve Allegations That It Unlawfully Dispensed Controlled Substances for Years

How Crucible Prevents This

The pharmacy's violations span nearly seven years and include five simultaneous red flag categories: high MME doses, drug combinations, cash-for-insurance patients, long distances, and early refills. Crucible's multi-dimensional red-flag monitoring — tracking all five of these indicators simultaneously and requiring documented resolution for any combination — would have triggered mandatory review at the first occurrence of these patterns in 2017.

Source: DOJ USAO-CO — Southern Colorado Pharmacy Agrees to Pay $250,000 to Resolve Allegations That It Unlawfully Dispensed Controlled Substances for Years

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