Lincare pharmacy sues vial manufacturer

August 30, 2004 KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Lincare's respiratory pharmacy, Med4Home, is suing the manufacturer of vials that prompted a huge contamination scare early last year. The lawsuit against DLJ Pharmaceutical contends that defective vials contaminated more than a million doses of compounded albuterol/ipratropium. After Med4Home discovered the problem, the pharmacy decided not to recall the shipped drugs. The Board of Pharmacy later faulted Med4Home for that decision and ordered the supplier to cease compounding drugs. Today, Med4Home sells only commercially prepared, prepackaged medications, a lawyer representing the company told the Kansas City Star in August. “We simply got out of the compounding business,” the lawyer, Randall Hendricks, told the newspaper. Med 4 Home seeks more than $5 million in damages from DLJ Pharmaceutical to recover its business losses, the cost of the recall and the expense of its litigation with the Missouri Board of Pharmacy, according to the Star.