City drug advocates angry as pharmacists' board refuses to comment

Supporters of Cheyenne's City Drug were furious Wednesday afternoon when the state Board of Pharmacists refused to accept public comment on the suspension of the pharmacy license.

The board last week issued a suspension of the drug store's pharmacy license for allegedly violating a board order issued in March. According to minutes of the March meeting, City Drug was ordered to stop manufacturing semaglutide until the investigation is complete.

The order was issued because City Drug allegedly compounded the drug without the required sterile equipment.

According to case documents, City Drug violated the order by filling a prescription for South Street Pharmacy in Wheatland earlier this month. The board revoked City Drug's pharmacy license on Sept. 12, with the suspension taking effect Oct. 10. This suspension is not permanent, but will remain in effect until the matter can be resolved at a hearing.

At a meeting of the Pharmacy Committee on Wednesday, committee chair Brenda Upton told a packed audience that it would be inappropriate to accept public comments until a hearing on the issue was held. That didn't sit well with those in attendance, who said they had been told they were allowed to comment.

When the board returned from a break, Upton opened the meeting with the gavel. But a City Drug supporter who had been speaking continued to speak. Wyoming Highway Patrol officers forcibly removed the woman from the meeting.

The crowd was not happy.

But supporters of the pharmacy told Townsquare Media at Wednesday's meeting that pharmacy owner Kelsey James was not at fault and had done everything the pharmacy board asked of her.

We spoke to the woman who addressed the crowd in the fifth briefing room of the State Capitol Building.

The board says there will be a hearing on the suspension, but has not publicly announced the time or place of the hearing.