Pharmacy Temporarily Closes After Unsafe Practices In South Jersey: AG

WOODBURY, NJ — A Gloucester County pharmacy is temporarily shut down due to a pharmacist's damaging actions, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office said.

Owner and operator of Woodbury Family Pharmacy, Nittal K. Lodha, temporarily lost her certification to practice after she operated in unsanitary conditions and interfered with patients' rights to get medications from other pharmacies.

This, according to the State Board of Pharmacy, led to people rationing their supplies or forgoing them altogether.

The rationing, according to one patient's doctor, may have contributed to his death, the Order brought forth by the State Board of Pharmacy said.

Lodha is said to have repeatedly disregarded requests to stop filling prescriptions and to send patients to other pharmacies.

She then filled orders herself with medicine kept in unsanitary conditions, with the wrong dosages, or put the items in packages with broken safety seals or missing pills.

Officials argue that her actions resulted in adverse health consequences, emotional distress, and deterioration of medical conditions.

"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."

The state sought an immediate temporary suspension of Lodha's ability to practice and Woodbury's permit on June 5, a decision that was granted and later ratified on June 24.

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.

Lodha and the pharmacy can apply for limited reinstatement credentials pending the result of the allegations and provided they meet the conditions outlined in the Order.

These include unconditionally passing a Problem Based Ethics Program, unconditionally passing the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam, and finishing a 400-hour internship under an approved preceptor.

Lodha may act as a pharmacy intern, but not at the Woodbury Family Pharmacy.

If temporary reinstatement is granted, Lodha cannot serve as a registered pharmacist in charge in New Jersey, cannot serve as a preceptor, and cannot engage in any compounding actions, including sterile, non-sterile, and/or hazardous situations.

In order for the pharmacy to be temporarily reopened while the case progresses, it must be cleaned by an approved third-party, wiped of its current drug stock, have its hazardous chemicals removed and destroyed, employ a monitor to be pre-approved by officials, and get a pre-approved new Registered Pharmacist In Charge.

Patch has reached out to Lodha and her legal team for a reaction to the Order and is yet to hear back.

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