Cornerstone Pharmacy, Inc. d/b/a Whalley Drug
Outcome
Pharmacy owner Yong Kwon and Cornerstone Pharmacy (Whalley Drug) paid $120,000 April 2024 to resolve allegations of filling invalid controlled substance prescriptions from 2017–2021, including holy trinity combinations and duplicate concurrent fills; Kwon voluntarily surrendered the pharmacy's DEA license during the 2021 inspection.
Details
Cornerstone Pharmacy, Inc. d/b/a Whalley Drug — Holy Trinity Dispensing and Concurrent Fill Settlement (2017–2024)
Outcome: Pharmacy owner Yong Kwon and Cornerstone Pharmacy, Inc. d/b/a Whalley Drug of New Haven, Connecticut, paid $120,000 in a civil settlement announced April 23, 2024, to resolve DEA allegations that between September 2017 and June 2021 the pharmacy filled controlled substance prescriptions issued without legitimate medical purpose; Kwon voluntarily surrendered the pharmacy's DEA license during the June 2021 inspection and Whalley Drug no longer operates as a retail pharmacy.
Cornerstone Pharmacy, Inc. d/b/a Whalley Drug was a retail pharmacy in New Haven, Connecticut, owned by pharmacist Yong Kwon. On June 22, 2021, the DEA served an Administrative Inspection Warrant on Whalley Drug. During the execution of the warrant, DEA investigators interviewed Kwon about patients who had overdosed after filling prescriptions at Whalley Drug from certain area practitioners, and about his practices in filling controlled substance prescriptions.
The government alleged that between September 2017 and June 2021, Kwon and Whalley Drug filled controlled substance prescriptions that had been issued without a legitimate medical purpose. The violations encompassed multiple categories: filling prescriptions for individuals displaying clear red flags of abuse and addiction; filling prescriptions for dangerous drug combinations including the high-risk "holy trinity" combination of at least one opioid, a benzodiazepine, and a muscle relaxant; filling excessive and unsafe amounts of benzodiazepines for extended periods; and — most strikingly — filling one dosage unit of a controlled substance for an individual who was already concurrently receiving two additional dosage units of the same controlled substance from a different provider simultaneously.
On June 22, 2021, Kwon agreed to voluntarily surrender Whalley Drug's DEA license during the inspection. The $120,000 civil settlement was executed and announced April 23, 2024.
Primary Source: DEA Press Release — New Haven Pharmacy and Owner Agree to Pay $120,000 to Settle Controlled Substances Act Allegations (Apr. 23, 2024)
How Crucible Prevents This
Whalley Drug filled prescriptions for individuals who were simultaneously receiving the same controlled substance from a different provider — a duplicate/concurrent prescribing red flag that a PDMP cross-check would have caught instantly. Crucible's PDMP integration, required before each fill, would have identified concurrent fills from multiple providers and blocked dispensing.
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