2025 BOP Update Archive
Visit the Indiana Board of Pharmacy's website.
These updates are provided by IPA and are not an official record of the Board of Pharmacy's activities. The updates provided are selected portions of the meeting that are of general interest.
Meeting Updates for 2025:
January:
Election of Officers:
Steve Anderson, R.Ph. was elected as President. Steve is the owner of Crowder's Family Pharmacy in Bedford and a longtime IPA member.
Matt Balla, R.Ph. was elected as Vice President. Matt is Vice President of Pharmacy at CarDon and Associates.
INSPECT updates:
In order to comply with new federal HIPAA standards, INSPECT will hide from any search results prescriptions related to reproductive health that have been reported to either Indiana or another state's PDMP. Some states require the reporting of these drugs to their state PDMP programs (such as mifepristone). Even if Indiana were to schedule these drugs, the federal privacy rule would still prohibit reporting them to INSPECT.
The INSPECT Director continued to note issues with fraudulent promethazine and promethazine DM prescriptions. They are actively working with law enforcement to report all identified fraudulent prescriptions into INSPECT.
Workplace Well-being:
The Board has now prominently displayed on their website a link to resources and self-reporting on workplace well-being. The Board encourages all pharmacy personnel to examine these resources and take advantage of opportunities to report or self-assess workplace well-being concerns.
February:
Rule hearing LSA 24-585
The Board held a rule hearing regarding fees and fines. A statute was passed in 2024 requiring Boards to explicitly state in rule any fees or fines that the Board imposes. The rule adds two fees that were being charged, but not previously listed in rule, regarding technician-in-training permits and remote dispensing facility applications and renewals.
The rule also sets a default fine of $500 per violation, with the opportunity for the fine to be reduced down to a minimum of $100 or a maximum of $1,000 based on mitigating or aggravating circumstances, which are delineated in the new rule.
The Board made two changes, clarifying that any fine would be per violation, and removing the specific fee for the technician-in-training permit as it is included within the pharmacy technician application. A second comment period will be issued based on these changes.
https://iar.iga.in.gov/lsadoc/240585?searchDoc=20250108-IR-856240585RAA
INSPECT
The Drug Enforcement Administration has identified illegal schemes to generate fake electronic prescriptions, or e-scripts, for controlled substances by exploiting vulnerabilities in e-script software.
Tens of thousands of fake prescriptions have been filled by pharmacies throughout the United States. The clinicians’ names on these fake e-scripts did not know that their identities and credentials were being used to generate the e-scripts.
If you suspect you have been the victim of a scheme, immediately notify the DEA.
A new public safety alert video describes what DEA is seeing and what can be done to address the issue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R00DnzNkkg
Diversion
The Board discussed their ability to issue Orders to Show Cause against pharmacies for lack of adequate security controls resulting in drug diversion. The Board requested that compliance officers conduct spot counts of controlled substances during inspections. The Board also expressed interest in PLA sharing DEA 106s for review. Under the state controlled substances act, the Board can hold Order to Show Cause hearings with controlled substance registration permit holders as an enforcement means.
Final Product Verification (FPV) Procedures
The Board heard a request from a pharmacy that wanted to utilize barcode technology to allow technicians to perform final product verification for prescriptions. The barcoding technology would be used to verify the correct drug was placed in the dispensing container. This would be done after the pharmacist reviewed the order (DUR) and a label was placed on the dispensing container. The technician would use the barcode reader to match the NDC of the product from inventory with the NDC on the label and then fill the container accordingly. The Board denied the request as this final verification took place by a technician after the pharmacist reviewed the order.
March:
The Board's meeting consisted of several disciplinary proceedings and appearances related to license applications. There was nothing of general concern to report from this meeting.
April:
Compliance Update:
The Compliance department reported that in Q1 2025 Suboxone losses accounted for the most common controlled substance loss. They also advised about a recent burglarly, and noted additional precautions that can be taken such as placing sensors on controlled substance safes and bolting the safe to the floor.
May:
Board Heightens Scrutiny of Controlled Substance Losses
The Board heard a disciplinary case in which a pharmacy technician diverted over 1,000 Suboxone tablets over a period of time. While ultimately suspending the technician, the Board expressed concern over the lack of sufficient security controls to identify the loss earlier. The Board voted to refer the pharmacy to the Attorney General for further investigation. The Board is increasingly referring pharmacies to the Attorney General's office if it believes there may be insufficient controls to guard against diversion or loss, particularly when large quantities are lost or diverted over a period and the loss goes undetected. Pharmacies are well-advised to review their controlled substance security to ensure there are processes in place to identify losses early on.
June:
Cease and Desist Issued
The Board issued a Cease and Desist Order to Sein Hnin Zee Grocery in Ft. Wayne after it was discovered this grocery store was selling prescription-only products, including antibiotics, contraception and topical creams, over-the-counter.
Community Pharmacy Disciplined
A community pharmacy was Reprimanded and fined $1,000 after a patient was dispensed progesterone 200mg with instructions to take "one capsule by mouth daily" when the directions should have been to take "vaginally daily." The patient did experience a miscarriage, although it could not be conclusively attributed to the medication error.
Complaint Filed Against Pharmacy for Controlled Substance Losses
A hospital pharmacy was referred to the Attorney General's office for further investigation after it was discovered that a pharmacist had diverted over 30,000 controlled substance tablets. This is a further example of the board's heightened scrutiny of controlled substance losses (see May 2025 update). A complaint was also filed against the wholesaler to determine if they failed to note suspicious orders.
July:
Rule hearing LSA 24-585
The Board held its second rule hearing regarding fees and fines (see February 2025 update). The Board voted unanimously to adopt the final rule, which will become effective December 5, 2025.
https://iar.iga.in.gov/lsadoc/240585?searchDoc=20250108-IR-856240585RAA
New Electronic Data Intermediary Approved
The Board approved Photon Health as an electronic data intermediary.
Rules Update
The Board's rules subcommittee met on July 11 and completed their review of 856 IAC Article 1, Rules 1-4. These rules concern definitions, pharmacists' certificate, examination and experience requirements and reciprocity. The Board preliminarily approved the draft changes to permit the formal rulemaking process to move forward. Later, the proposed rule changes will be published and there will be a public comment period and hearing.
Proposed changes can be viewed here.
August:
Board Continues Scrutiny of Controlled Substance Losses
The Board continues to refer pharmacies, this month referring several, to the Attorney General's office for investigation about whether they maintain sufficient controls to guard against diversion or loss.
Technician Applicants - Be Sure to Use Correct Application
The director reported an uptick in pharmacy technicians submitting the pharmacy technician training program application, leading to non-refundable fees and voided applications. There's a pop-up warning on the website to guide applicants, but many still miss it. Applicants should be sure to select individual application types to avoid this error.
Burglarly Taskforce Formed
A taskforce comprised of state and federal authorities has formed to address recent pharmacy burglaries. A recent traffic stop in Montgomery County resulted in the arrest of several suspects. It is believed these individuals were involved in burglaries in Valparaiso, Lafayette and Rockville.
Botox Administration by a Pharmacist
Discussion was held about pharmacists administering injectables like Botox, antipsychotics, Juvederm and other dermafillers. The law allows for administering drugs via injection, but the medical board views their administration as close to the practice of medicine. Board members expressed concern that Botox and fillers likely fall outside the traditional scope of pharmacy practice unless part of a collaborating agreement with a physician. Importantly, the Board made no formal decision. It is IPA's position that so long as a pharmacist can competently administer the product, they are permitted to do so under Indiana law. See IPA's response to this discussion here.
Rules Update
The Board's rules subcommittee met on July 11 and completed their review of 856 IAC Article 1, Rules 5-27. These rules concern: recognition of accredited schools; pharmacies (generally); general definitions; pharmacists' notification of termination; violations and penalities; resale of returned substances; dispensing of dangerous drugs; continuing education; and fee structure. The Board preliminarily approved the draft changes to permit the formal rulemaking process to move forward. Later, the proposed rule changes will be published and there will be a public comment period and hearing.
Proposed changes can be viewed here.
September:
The Board's meeting consisted of several disciplinary proceedings and appearances related to license applications. There was nothing of general concern to report from this meeting.
October:
Rules Update:
The Board discussed 856 IAC 1-30 (sterile compounding) and proposed new rule 856 IAC 1-30.1 (non-sterile compounding). The Board noted the goal with these rules were to update and clarify compounding rules and to distinguish between hospital and community compounding practices. The intent is to set minimum enforceable standards, especially for non-sterile compounding, while avoiding unnecessary burdens on community pharmacies. USP 797 serves as a framework but the Board was not inclined to adopt it in full due to practical constraints in Indiana. The Board excluded USP 800 from consideration due to current opposition. Regarding non-sterile compounding, the Board has not adopted any formal rules.
The Board voted to have the compounding rules subcommittee reconvened to review the sterile compounding rules and voted to move the draft non-sterile compounding rule forward in the formal rulemaking process. Once that draft becomes available, it will be posted here.
November:
INSPECT Update:
The INSPECT Director announced that a data quality dashboard would be launched for INSPECT to more effectively review potential errors in reporting. The INSPECT staff would then reach out to the reporting pharmacy for either clarification or correction. No official launch date was announced however.
MPJE 3P Pilot and UMPJE
The Board considered whether to adopt the uniform MPJE in lieu of the Indiana-specific MPJE and whether to conduct a pilot program to permit pharmacy students to take the (U)MPJE after their third year of pharmacy school, instead of having to wait until after graduation. The Board directed the rules committee to explore both ideas.
USP 825
The Board voted to allow someone with experience with USP 825 to serve on the compounding subcommittee, which was tasked with adopting rules related to USP 825.
Disciplinary Action Update
The Board placed a community pharmacy on probation for a minimum of one year for failing to maintain effective controls against theft or diversion. A technician at the pharmacy was able to divert 10,000 hydrocodone and alprazolam tablets. As part of the probation, the pharmacy was required to provide quarterly reports which demonstrated compliance with the pharmacy's new perpetual counting systems.
Another pharmacy was reprimanded for dispensing controlled and non-controlled substances for animals without having a prescription as well dispensing errors related to animal prescriptions. The Board approved a settlement agreement that only resulted in a reprimand due to the near-term closure or sale of the pharmacy.
December:
INSPECT Update:
The Board voted to make the "sold date" field a requirement in the dispensing report and voiced support for legislation that would require reporting of all controlled substances dispensed, regardless of days-supply (current law only requires reporting for supplies over 72 hours).
Compliance Update:
The Board discussed when DEA 106's had to be completed, noting that DEA regulations are not "black and white." The Compliance Director advised that if in doubt on whether to file or not, pharmacies should submit a DEA 106 for a loss.
The Compliance Director also reported that inspectors were undergoing training related to the DSCSA and that they were not yet inspecting for compliance. However, federal law requires compliance for all dispensers with more than 25 dispensing personnel. Pharmacies with less than 25 employees have an exemption from certain requirements until November 2027.
Discipline Update:
In June 2025, the Board suspend a hospital pharmacist who diverted 30,000 controlled substances. The hospital pharmacy appeared before the Board regarding renewal of their controlled substance registration. The Board renew the registration on probation for a minimum of three years. The Board required the pharmacy director and CEO to complete the ASHP Drug Diversion Certificate program and required monthly outside audits for two years, with reports submitted to the Board.