Woman charged with impersonating pharmacist

A California woman who allegedly impersonated a pharmacist and dispensed hundreds of drugs for more than 10 years is now facing criminal charges, the California attorney general announced July 30. 

California Attorney General Xavier Beccera charged Kim Thien Le with false impersonation, identity theft and obtaining money, labor or property by false pretenses. 

Mr. Beccera claims that Ms. Le falsely served as a pharmacist for three Walgreens locations in California from 2006 until 2017. She used license numbers of real pharmacists to get her pharmacy job but never obtained her own pharmacy license, Mr. Beccera said.

During that time, Ms. Le allegedly dispensed more than 745,000 prescriptions, many of which "contained highly regulated controlled substances, including prescription opioids such as fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine and codeine," according to the attorney general's news release.

Ms. Le was arrested July 26.

"Californians picking up medications at their local pharmacy should never have to worry about whether pharmacies are employing licensed pharmacists to dispense prescriptions," Mr. Becerra said. 

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