Pharmacist charged with diluting drugs

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Kansas City pharmacist is scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday afternoon to face charges that he dispensed highly diluted chemotherapy drugs to unsuspecting patients, as federal authorities urgently search records and establish a hotline to determine the scope of the problem.

Robert Courtney, 48, of Kansas City, Missouri, has agreed to surrender to authorities at 2:30 p.m. CDT and appear before a federal magistrate judge to hear charges of misbranding and adulterating prescription drugs.

"We view this as a very serious public safety issue," A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Kansas City told CNN.

"Our number one priority is to identify the patients," said spokesman Chris Whitney. "We are beginning to go through records now, but it's like looking for needles in haystacks."

Whitney said authorities have no idea how many patients may be involved, or how long the laborious search of records may take. One federal official told CNN the number of patients affected could be in the hundreds, but others said it was premature, and cautioned against speculation which might unduly frighten the public, particularly cancer patients.

RESOURCES FBI Hotline: 816-421-8639

The FBI executed a search warrant of the offices of Research Medical Tower Pharmacy on Monday, and began a page by page examination of records. Courtney is the owner and operator of the pharmacy on Prospect Avenue in Kansas City.

Courtney is accused of dispensing the chemotherapy drugs Gemzar and Taxol with potency levels ranging from about 39 percent to less than one percent of the intended strengths that had been prescribed by a doctor, according to an affidavit.

Officials said the investigation began in May when a sales representative for Eli Lilly, maker of Gemzar, noted the pharmacy had purchased only about one third of the drug it had supposedly provided and billed to patients. A doctor informed by the salesman then decided to send samples he obtained to an independent lab and found the samples highly diluted.

On July 27, the doctor gave the FBI and FDA additional samples prepared by the pharmacy which also were diluted.

Federal investigators working with the physician ordered more chemotherapy prescriptions, and found lesser amounts of the drugs than they were represented to contain.

The affidavit cites one prescription for Gemzar which, if filled properly, would have cost the pharmacy $1021.25, but the amount of Gemzar which was allegedly detected in the treatment dispensed would have cost only $241.88.

The FBI has established a hotline for patients and doctors, 816-421-8639. Investigators are urging physicians who may have dispensed the drugs, or patients who may have received them, to identify themselves.

Federal prosecutors say if Courtney is convicted of the felony count with which he is currently charged, the maximum punishment is three years in prison without parole and a fine of up to $250,000.

He is not expected to enter a plea at his initial court appearance Wednesday. Prosecutors are not asking Courtney be held without bond, but may seek restrictions on his movements officials said.