The Alabama Examiners of Public Accounts recently released a report detailing multiple "significant issues" with the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy (ABOP) and its operations.
The report was prepared ahead of a Thursday sunset committee meeting. The Sunset Committee deals with legislation and boards slated to expire after a determined amount of time, called "sunsetting."
The report contains unaudited information obtained from ABOP's management, staff, and records, as well as information obtained from other sources. It covers Oct. 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, 2023.
The Board has five members: three appointed by the governor and two elected at large by all Alabama pharmacists. The ballot contains two nominees submitted by the Alabama Pharmacy Association's Board of Trustees nominating committee, an advocacy group.
The Board is funded through license and permit fees, reciprocal and exam fees, late fees, fines and penalties, administrative costs, and interest income. At year's end, the Board retains all funds.
The report from the state examiners found several instances of "significant issues" with ABOP, including how it reported income, over-fining, levying non-specified fees, charging non-licensed entities, meeting minutes that are inconsistent with board actions, violations of Alabama's Open Meetings Act, failure to file oaths of office with the secretary of state's office, failing to deposit receipts promptly, violating the state's open-bidding rules, inaccurate invoicing, overpaying vendors over the contracted amount and unlawfully procuring supplies and services.
The most significant issue relates to the Board's finances and financial reporting.
In fiscal year 2023, the Board's financial records indicated a sharp decline (71%) in the revenue collected for fines and penalties. This decline corresponded with a sharp increase (594%) in the revenue collected as "miscellaneous income." A review of revenues in these two categories revealed that the Board had shifted to recording the amounts collected as administrative costs/fines from Fines and Penalties to Miscellaneous Income.
"This shift in the classification and recording of administrative costs/fines in the Board's financial records creates an inaccurate depiction of how much the Board is collecting in administrative costs/fines from licensees and applicants of the Board," the report reads.
Alabama code allows the Board to investigate alleged violations of laws, rules, or regulations and to invoke penalties not exceeding $1,000 for each violation.
In one instance, a company failed to report an ownership change in an allowable timeframe.
The Board offered the company two options: Option one was for the company to sign a consent agreement, which is a reportable offense, and pay a fine of $2,000 per permit for a total of $4,000. Option two was for the company to sign a deferral agreement, which is a non-reportable offense, and pay an administrative cost of $5,000 per permit for a total of $10,000.
The Board is responsible for issuing licenses and levying fines against entities licensed in Alabama. The report found that the ABOP board had levied charges against individuals who indicated they had been arrested or convicted of a felony or misdemeanor or had been disciplined by another state's pharmacy licensure board at any time. This resulted in individuals paying fees and fines on top of the regular fees associated with initial licensure. These costs and fines ranged from $50 to $18,000.
During the examination period, ABOP also purchased two vehicles totaling $79,349.84 and procured agency licensing certificates totaling $77,628.61 without going through the process of getting sealed competitive bids, awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, or without using a current state contract, all violating Alabama code.
The state examiners also issued questionnaires to Alabama pharmacists. Several complained of corruption and abuse on the part of the Board. Others accused the Board of punitive actions and expressed fear of retaliation, even for participating in the anonymous survey.
Fifty-six percent of pharmacists, 26% of community pharmacies and 25% of non-resident pharmacies said they had a negative perception of ABOP.
One pharmacist respondent was quoted in the report as saying, "The AL BOP abuse of power and over issuance of discipline" was the "most significant issue facing their profession." Another, answering the same question, responded with the "Culture of corruption and abuse of power by the Alabama Board of Pharmacy."
Another responded: "The most significant issue facing the pharmacy profession in Alabama right now is the ongoing corruption by the Board of Pharmacy. I cannot understand how state legislators have allowed this Board to get away with enriching themselves all of these years with minimal oversight and blatant unethical violations. The Board misappropriates state funds by collecting excessive penalties in order to justify excessive salaries, travel, vehicles and payments to board members. The extorted efforts to recieve these fines is…to be honest…criminal. The executive secretary and all board staff, current board members, attorney, hearing officer and investigators all need to be placed on leave while they are investigated thoroughly."
Again, the complaints against ABOP are too numerous to list, but the full report can be found below.
ABOP Report by Craig Monger on Scribd
The Board responded to the significant issue primarily by merely disagreeing with the examiners' findings. In other instances, the Board agreed that a discrepancy existed and would endeavor to rectify the problems in the future.
ABOP is in front of the Sunset Committee on Thursday, and this report will undoubtedly come up.
State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) claimed that the report's findings showed "atrocious management practices" on the part of the ABOP, stating that Gov. Kay Ivey should call for the entire Board's resignation.
"The Alabama Department of examiners of public accounts report on the state board of pharmacy is shocking," Elliott told 1819 News. "The findings outline atrocious management practices and governance by the Board. Attempts to disguise fines and penalties income, charging fine amounts that exceeded statutory authority and entering into deferral agreements that hide violations from the public if an offending entity is willing to pay the Board to do so are just a few significant issues found in the examiner's report. These findings make the Alabama board for pharmacy a poster child for occupational and professional licensing reform in Alabama. Moreover, given the severity of these findings by the examiners of public accounts, the governor should immediately demand the resignation of this Board en masse."
The report also drew the ire of the pharmacy advocate group United Alabama Pharmacists, who criticized ABOP for its perceived corruption.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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