Unsafe NJ Pharmacy Ordered Sold After Owner Kept Prescribing Drugs: AG

WOODBURY, NJ — An unsafe pharmacy that was temporarily closed after patients weren't allowed to transfer prescriptions now must be sold after its owner continued prescribing medications despite her license being suspended, the U.S. Attorney General's Office for New Jersey said.

Nittal K. Lodha, the owner and operator of Woodbury Family Pharmacy, whose pharmacist license was temporarily suspended in June, continued to operate despite a consent order with the Board of Pharmacy where she was supposed to stop dispensing medication.

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The June consent order came after authorities found multiple instances where patients were harmed by Lodha's "predatory conduct, particularly her failure to transfer prescriptions," the original order said.

The pharmacy conditions "placed patients at significant risk of harm, to include dangerous compounding practices, numerous expired drugs and improper temperature control in the pharmacy," the order said.

In some cases patients rationed their medication, authorities said, one patient's doctor said the rationing may have contributed to his death.

After the June consent order was ratified, Lodha continued to fill and dispense prescriptions from the pharmacy's drug inventory, officials said.

Lodha is accused of repeatedly disregarding requests to stop filling prescriptions and to send patients to other pharmacies, and filled orders with medicine kept in unsanitary conditions, with the wrong dosages, or put the items in packages with broken safety seals or missing pills.

Under the new interim consent order, filed Sept. 1, Lodha must sell the pharmacy to a state Board of Pharmacy-approved buyer over 69 days. She also is not allowed to go inside the property other than to conduct the sale or respond to audits, both of which cases must be alongside a Board-approved monitor, according to the order.

Lodha also agreed to remain out of practice until allegations against her are resolved.

"Pharmacists entrusted with the health and safety of their patients cannot simply ignore a Board order and continue practicing as they please," said Attorney General Jennifer Davenport. "The allegations in this case, if proven, demonstrate a blatant disregard for the rules and safeguards designed to protect the public."

Woodbury and Lodha's ability to gain a limited reinstatement from their initial suspensions were also revoked as part of this latest development.

"Patients depend on pharmacists and pharmacies to provide safe, lawful, and reliable access to prescription medications," Jeremy E. Hollander, Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs, said. "Those that fall short of those expectations will be held accountable."

According to Lodha, she is also a lifestyle and nutrition coach and would see 600 to 1,000 patients per month with no such complaints as were presented to her by the Board.

She denied "essentially every claim," the Board added, but is said to have misrepresented facts, including that she complied with the requirement to transfer prescriptions within four hours.

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