Trial reset for former Downtown Drug employee charged with theft

CEDAR RAPIDS - A trial for a former Downtown Drug employee accused of stealing 18,000 hydrocodone pills over two years, which led to the pharmacy's owner losing his license, has been reset for next year.

Charles A. Long, 48, of Cedar Rapids, is charged with prohibited acts and second-degree theft. He is accused of unlawfully obtaining hydrocodone, a controlled substance, by fraud or deceit while an employee at Downtown Drug in Cedar Rapids.

According to an order filed in August by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy, Long's employer and owner Chris Tuetken, discovered Long was ordering large amounts of hydrocodone from a wholesaler but the orders never were entered into the pharmacy's inventory. Long had access to the system, but ordering controlled substances wasn't part of his duties.

The unauthorized hydrocodone orders were found when invoices were reconciled for the pharmacy, according to the order filed by the pharmacy board. There were numerous orders for 500 count bottles of hydrocodone tablets this year and last which were larger than the pharmacy typically would order given its volume of business.

According to the order, the pharmacist went back and cross-referenced the staff schedules with the dates the unauthorized orders were made, and Long was the front-end cashier those days.

The board ordered Tuetken to sell his drugstores as a result of controlled substances being diverted without his knowledge. The board had concerns about Tuetken's ability to safely practice pharmacy. The evidence showed 'Tuetken spread himself entirely too thin, as owner of up to 12 pharmacies at one point.” He was unable to manage the day-to-day operations and fulfill the requirements of being a pharmacist in charge at Downtown Drug, according to the order.

According to the order, Tuetken can have no involvement in the ownership, management, direction or control of any business engaged in the practice of pharmacy. He has until Jan. 31 to comply with the order.

Tuetken's license is suspended for one year, and he will be required to pay a $10,000 civil penalty, according to the order.

Tuetken told KCRG-TV9 last month that he was closing the pharmacy at Downtown Drug and will turn it into a grocery store. He also will sell his other four pharmacies.

Tuetken said he wasn't planning on letting go of any of his employees during the transition.

Tuetken had a disciplinary action in 2011 for allegedly salvaging drugs from a flooded Cedar Rapids store and using them in another store.