Pharmacist sentenced in radiopharmaceutical criminal case

A South Carolina pharmacist created a risk of poor-quality patient scans and repeated scans when he dispensed radioactive Technescan MAG3, with the active ingredient diluted, to medical facilities in the Greenville area.

After pleading guilty to adulteration of a drug, Richard Sheriff, 73, of Easley was sentenced to two years of probation and forfeited $166,000 in revenues, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of South Carolina. Evidence showed that Sheriff owned and was pharmacist in charge at Shertech, a pharmacy that provided nuclear and radiopharmaceutical drugs to medical facilities.

From January 2018 to June 2019, Sheriff and pharmacists under his direction would fractionate or split the active ingredient of Technescan MAG3, without ensuring the pieces were equal in size, purity, or strength, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in a statement updated July 25. This compounding was done without proper protective gear, testing, or quality assurance, according to the DOJ. The resulting diluted product was used in procedures such as renal scans to diagnose various illnesses, such as kidney disease.

The adulterated product potentially contained only a portion of the full dosage needed for renal imaging, causing a direct risk to adult and pediatric patients, the DOJ noted. Sheriff was also fined $2,000.