What Happened
Aspirar Pharmacy's locations in Cary and Durham, North Carolina agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve allegations that they filled controlled substance prescriptions from a physician who lacked the authority to write them.
The physician, Sharon Halliday, held a faculty limited license tied to her work at Duke University — a license that only allowed her to practice to the extent authorized by the sponsoring university. The government alleged that while holding this limited license, Halliday prescribed controlled substances outside the scope Duke authorized, and that Aspirar Pharmacy filled those prescriptions at both of its locations from 2017 to 2018 without confirming the validity of her license.
The settlement, announced February 3, 2022, resolved the allegations without an admission of wrongdoing by the pharmacy.
What Went Wrong
- License scope wasn't verified. A faculty limited license is a narrower credential than a full state license, and the pharmacy's process did not catch that the prescriber was operating outside her authorized scope.
- Corresponding responsibility wasn't exercised. Under the CSA, pharmacies share responsibility for ensuring prescriptions are valid — simply filling what a licensed-looking prescriber writes isn't sufficient.
- The gap persisted for roughly a year. Multiple prescriptions were filled across two locations before the pattern was identified, suggesting no periodic license-status recheck was in place.
How It Could Have Been Prevented
- Verify the scope, not just the existence, of a prescriber's license before filling controlled substance prescriptions — especially for limited or restricted license types.
- Build a periodic recheck of prescriber license status into pharmacy workflow, not just a one-time verification.
- Train pharmacy staff to recognize limited-license designations (faculty, training, restricted) and what scope limitations they carry.
- Flag prescribers whose practice setting doesn't match their license type for manual review before dispensing.
Related Guidance
- Regulatory Guide — DEA registrant and corresponding-responsibility obligations for pharmacies.
- Policy Templates — Prescriber license verification policy templates.
- Community Pharmacy Self-Assessment Checklist — Self-assessment for retail and specialty pharmacies.
- Training Materials — Staff training on prescriber license types and scope limitations.