An out-of-state pharmacy, not licensed in Nevada, has been ordered by the state pharmacy board to stop filling prescriptions, some of them for the active ingredient in Ozempic, to Nevadans.
Nova Specialty Pharmacy was issued a cease and desist order, a citation and a $655,000 fine after the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy determined it was operating without a license in Nevada when it sold and dispensed more than 100 prescriptions from outside the state.
A spokesman for the board confirmed that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, an injectable drug designed to treat diabetes that many people are using to lose weight, was among the products sold and dispensed in Nevada by the pharmacy.
According to its website, the pharmacy, which is based in Dallas and licensed in Texas, is not licensed in Nevada, records show.
The cease and desist order, citation and fine were issued to Obiechina Ezekwesili, who, according to Texas records, is the pharmacist in charge at Nova Specialty Pharmacy. The pharmacy is owned by Echo Health LLC.
Texas inspection records show Nova Specialty Pharmacy was out of compliance with several regulations during its most recent inspection in March.
Most of the violations were related to a section of Texas law that sets standards for preparing drugs in a sterile environment.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), compounding is a practice in which a licensed pharmacist combines or alters the ingredients of a drug to create a medication tailored to an individual patient’s needs. The FDA also noted that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, can be compounded when the drug is in short supply.
Inspection reports indicated that employees working in the prep area at Nova Specialty Pharmacy were not following proper hand hygiene practices, were not applying surgical disinfectant, and were advised to remove residue from their fingernails.
Ezekwesili said in an email that “all unsatisfactory observations related to hand hygiene were due to cleaning products not being visible to the inspector from outside the cleaning area, not due to a lack of cleaning products.”
“We adhere to very strict standards and always strive to ensure quality products,” he added, noting that since the inspector was unable to see the cleaning products, “he did not give us credit for it.”
The report also said the pharmacy failed to ensure it had the proper licenses to fill prescriptions in other states. According to the board, the prescriptions were filled in Nevada at least 103 times.
The board’s letter to the pharmacy said the pharmacy “failed to maintain quality standards for the compounded medications it dispensed to its patients in Nevada” and that failure to meet these standards “could result in harm to patients.”
“We encourage all Nevadans to exercise extra caution when purchasing any prepared product, including semaglutide,” said Dave Wuest, executive secretary of the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy, in a statement.