Valerie DeBenedette

Valerie DeBenedette is managing editor of Drug Topics.

Altaire Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is voluntarily recalling multiple OTC ophthalmic drug products and lots, within expiry, sold at Walgreens and CVS stores as well as the company's own label, Natural Ophthalmics and TRP Company, Inc. The company initiated the recall of specific lots over concerns regarding the sufficiency of quality assurance control in its manufacturing facility. 

The recall is being carried out at the retail level and is only for specific lots of products, which include lubricant eye drops and ointments. The Walgreens products were manufactured and labeled exclusively for and shipped only to Walgreens. The CVS products were manufactured and labeled exclusively for and distributed by CVS. 

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Altaire noted in its statement that it had not received any reports of adverse events due to use of the products.  

For more information on the recall of products Altaire manufactured for Walgreens, click 

For more information on the recall of products Altaire manufactured for CVS, click 

Customers with questions regarding this recall can contact Altaire Pharmaceuticals Inc., by calling 1-800-258-2471, or e-mailing 

 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. Customers should contact their physician or healthcare provider if they have experienced any problems that may be related to taking or using this drug product.

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Update: Recall expanded to Natural Ophthalmics and TRP Company, Inc. 

Altaire Recalls Ophthalmic Products

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Mount Carmel West Hospital in Columbus, OH, has fired 23 employees in the aftermath of murder charges against one of its acute care physicians. Pharmacists are among those affected, according to the 

William Husel, DO, is charged with 25 counts of murder due to overdoses of fentanyl. The deaths took place over the course of four years and affected critical care patients at the hospital. Husel is pleading not guilty and was fired from the hospital in December.

A pharmacist was the person who alerted hospital authorities to the high doses of fentanyl being prescribed by Husel, according to 

. Mount Carmel West began an internal inquiry and found 35 cases handled by Husel that it deemed suspicious. 

According to the Columbus Dispatch, 48 pharmacists and nurses were reported to state licensing boards, including 30 who are still with the health system. The Ohio Board of Nursing has issued notices to 25 nurses saying that they could lose their licenses for their roles in the Husel case. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy has taken no public action. 

Ron O’Brien, the Franklin County prosecutor, focused on cases where doses of 500 to 2,000 micrograms of fentanyl were administered, amounts could have caused or hastened patient deaths and which are larger than doses typically used for post-surgical patients. Dozens of nurses, pharmacists and managers were put on administrative leave and either left their jobs or were in this firing. 

In addition to the 23 people fired from Mount Carmel West, which is part of the Michigan-based Trinity Health, one remains on administrative leave, and 11 others will be given a change to return to work after completing further training and education. 

Husel has a previous history of criminal behavior. In 1996, he pleaded guilty to improperly storing a destructive device or pipe bomb at a college in West Virginia, and he attempted to incriminate someone else for the crime. He was sentenced to six months in jail and one year of supervised release. Despite this, he was admitted to and graduated from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine and did a residency and fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital. The Cleveland Clinic has conducted an audit of his time there, and says that is did not find conduct similar to what he is accused of doing at Mount Carmel West.

25 murder charges against one physician leads to multiple firings at Ohio hospital.

Pharmacists Among Those Fired in Hospital Fentanyl Deaths Case

CVS Health has announced that it will expand its HealthHUBs to 1,500 locations by the end of 2021. Fifty CVS locations in the Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey, and Tampa, FL, areas will be converted to offer expanded services. This is about 15% of the CVS Pharmacy locations in those markets.

 were opened in Houston earlier this year. The stores offer personalized pharmacy support programs and expanded MinuteClinic services, as well as one-on-one and group counseling on topics such as nutrition and weight loss. HealthHUBs will have a care concierge in each location, a person responsible for customer engagement, including educating customers about service offerings, helping them navigate in-store services and events, and connecting them to in-store healthcare providers. They will also have community spaces for group events such as health or yoga classes.

More floor space in each location will be devoted to the new services, while other offerings like greeting cards will get less space.

“HealthHUBs are a powerful example of how CVS Health can provide consumers with convenient, personalized and integrated access to local health care,” the company said in a 

. The statement outlined CVS Health’s strategies to accelerate growth.  "Our goal is to fundamentally transform the consumer health experience for the millions of Americans we interact with every day, while creating value for our patients, members, partners, and shareholders," says Larry J. Merlo, president and CEO, CVS Health. 

CVS will expand its health offerings, including nutrition and weight loss.

Author | Valerie DeBenedette

Articles

Altaire Recalls Ophthalmic Products

7 Pharmacy Places to Go on Your Summer Vacation

Pharmacists Among Those Fired in Hospital Fentanyl Deaths Case

CVS Will Offer HealthHUBs at 1,500 Stores