EXCLUSIVE: New Allegations Come To Light In Basinger’s Pharmacy Suspension

WJOL has learned that the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has suspended the licenses of the parent company of Basinger’s Pharmacy, the pharmacy itself, and its lead pharmacist.

In a filing from June 27th, obtained by WJOL, Basinger’s Pharmacy and Bubblepack Pharmacy, the parent company of Basinger’s, have their licenses suspended for at least a full year, while Pharmacist Harish Bhatt’s license suspended for two years.

The order comes after the pharmacy committed several violations discovered on an inspection back on June 22nd of last year.

Inspectors discovered that the pharmacy failed to invalidate several prescriptions that were transferred to other pharmacies.

According to the Pharmacy Practices Rules, a pharmacy must invalidate these after the transfer has been completed. Bhatt also violated a consent order from last year’s reprimand, logging onto the pharmacy operating system 21 times from June 22, 2023 to May 22nd of this year. During that time, his license was placed on inactive status for two years following multiple violations over several visits, dating back to 1991. 

As part of last year’s reprimand, Basinger’s Pharmacy was fined $50,000 and Bhatt was fined $25,000, due within 6 months of the reprimand’s issuance date. According to an affidavit given by a Drug Compliance Officer for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Professional Regulation on June 25th of this year, those were not paid.

This is not the first time Bhatt or Basinger’s have caught the ire of the IDFPR and DEA officials. One inspection on March 30th of 2021, DEA officials noted several violations, including discrepancies in the inventory of certain prescription drugs and over the counter products for sale that were expired. In 2018, another inspection found over 46,000 missing doses of controlled substances during an audit, when the pharmacy reported over 16,000 to the IDFPR and DEA

While the pharmacy itself is closed, other non-pharmaceutical services are still functional at the west side business.