A Nashville pharmacy that made knockoffs of popular weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Munjaro dies by suicide, employees take drugs without prescriptions, and clashes with local health inspectors As a result, it was forced to close. to the report.
ACA Pharmacy made millions of dollars in the first half of last year by capitalizing on the weight-loss drug boom by manufacturing generic versions of appetite suppressants such as Ozempic, Munjaro and Wigovy.
However, the pharmacy's rapid growth has resulted in the hiring of dozens of pharmacists and technicians with little or no experience working in a pharmacy. According to the Washington Post.
One of the ACA employees, who worked at a fast food restaurant before being hired as a technician, was openly using generic drugs on his own without a prescription.
Patients reported being sent the wrong prescription, while others reported receiving medication addressed to someone else.
The pharmacy also reportedly received a warning from the Tennessee Department of Health for not meeting sterility standards on the premises.
Last summer, Brantley Wescott, chief operating officer of ACA's parent company, Rx Partners, took his own life.
Wescott died just three days after state health officials arrived on-site to conduct an audit of the pharmacy's sterility practices, according to the Washington Post.
Ned Ashley, CEO of Rx Partners and Wescott's cousin, told police that Wescott suffers from anxiety and that the audit by health inspectors was “stressful.” ” he said. [him] and left,” according to a police report cited by the paper.
ACA was a compounding pharmacy, which meant preparing custom-made medicines for people whose needs could not be met by mass-produced medicines.
Pharmacy staff created injectable versions containing semaglutide and tirzepatide using their own laboratory on the store's premises.
The pharmacy has managed to make a profit by selling a combination version of the anti-diabetic drug semaglutide, sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, at a fraction of the price of the FDA-approved version of the drug. Ta.
A month's supply of Ozempic costs $900, while Wegovy's list price can exceed $1,300 for those without insurance.
ACA sold its highest dose of semaglutide for $175 per month, according to internal company records.
It turns out that deep discounts are too attractive for customers to pass up. From February to June, the pharmacy reportedly filled more than 80,000 prescription orders.
The influx of business has forced the pharmacy to add dozens of staff, including some who aren't qualified to work there.
The Washington Post reported that one former ACA employee was hired as a technician even though he previously worked at Wendy's.
The technician's role includes printing prescriptions and matching them to medications.
“The first day, they gave us prescriptions. No one really trained us,” a former employee told The Washington Post.
Although patients who used ACA's products reported that they were effective, other patients at the pharmacy expressed concerns about the amount of prescriptions and, in some cases, the doses prescribed.
Miranda Lane told The Washington Post that she resigned last May in protest of the company's culture.
“When I questioned the clinical appropriateness of something, I was told, 'Don't worry,'” Lane says.
Ashley said the raw materials used to make the drug were “legally purchased from reputable pharmaceutical companies.”
The pharmacy was ordered closed in November after state health inspectors found the pharmacy violated sterility standards.
Ashley told The Washington Post that the decision to close the ACA was “nuanced and multifaceted” and that Wescott's suicide “played a huge role.”
The Post has reached out to Rx Partners for comment.
