Woman posing as pharmacist handled over 700,000 prescriptions at Bay Area Walgreens, complaint says

Three Bay Area Walgreens stores are under investigation by the California State Board of Pharmacy to determine whether they allowed an employee to verify and dispense thousands of medications for over a decade without a pharmacist license. less Three Bay Area Walgreens stores are under investigation by the California State Board of Pharmacy to determine whether they allowed an employee to verify and dispense thousands of medications for over a decade ... more Photo: Genevieve Bookwalter, TNS Photo: Genevieve Bookwalter, TNS Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Woman posing as pharmacist handled over 700,000 prescriptions at Bay Area Walgreens, complaint says 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Three Bay Area Walgreens stores are under investigation by the California State Board of Pharmacy to determine whether they allowed an employee to verify and dispense thousands of medications over a decade without a pharmacist license.

Kim Thien Le worked as a pharmacist and pharmacy manager at three Bay Area Walgreens stores in Fremont, Pleasanton and San Jose between 2006 and 2017, where she dispensed 745,355 prescriptions from 395 Walgreens pharmacies, the investigation found. More than 100,000 of those prescriptions were for controlled substances and verified electronically, according to the complaint. The location of the other 392 pharmacies was not specified.

Le, a Milpitas resident, could not be reached for comment. Records show the Board of Pharmacy issued her a pharmacy technician license in 2001, which expired in 2018 and was never renewed.

"This individual is no longer employed by Walgreens, and has not been since October 2017," Walgreens said in a statement. "Upon learning of this issue, we undertook a re-verification of the licenses of all our pharmacists nationwide."

The complaint, filed in October 2018, claims Le verified medications to patients with prescription forms that were not up to state standards, and also counseled patients about their prescriptions, administered vaccinations and supervised pharmacy technicians, clerks and trainees.

The investigators say Walgreens records had a pharmacist license number for Le that belonged to another pharmacist with a similar name, who was not employed by Walgreens.

Walgreens did not have or keep proof of Le's graduation or enrollment at pharmacy school or copies of her purported licenses, the complaint said. The company also reportedly told investigators it could not say whether her purported license papers were requested or reviewed prior to her hiring, nor could it reproduce a copy of her application.

If the allegations are found to be true, Le and the three aforementioned Walgreens pharmacies face suspension or revocation of their licenses, said Bill Davila, a spokesperson for the Board of Pharmacy. A hearing date has yet to be set.

Le had been employed by Walgreens from 1999 to 2017, and she falsely served as a pharmacist beginning in 2006, the investigation claims. She was the pharmacy manager at the Walgreens at 1833 Milpitas Blvd. in Milpitas between April and November 2016, and then at the Walgreens at 2105 Morrill Ave. in San Jose. The other pharmacy listed in the complaint is located at 2600 Mowry Ave. in Fremont.

Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.

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