Fairfield pharmacist agrees to suspend license

FAIRFIELD – Bryan Vander Linden has stepped down from his role as a pharmacist at Summit Pharmacy in Fairfield after entering an agreement with the Iowa Board of Pharmacy.

The agreement between the two is a “Stipulated Agreement Not to Practice,” whereby Vander Linden’s license to practice pharmacy has been suspended, and that he is prohibited from entering Summit Pharmacy, located at 300 W. Burlington Ave.

According to a case that the Iowa Board of Pharmacy published May 21, Vander Linden self-reported to the board that he had “diverted many CII controlled substances for personal use over the previous six (6) years.”

When reached for comment, Vander Linden said he wanted the public to know that Summit Pharmacy will continue to operate as normal in his absence, offering the same products and services that it had before. His father, Tom, is working at the pharmacy and he is a licensed pharmacist.

“There is an opioid epidemic in the United States, and it affects people even in that industry,” Vander Linden said. “It’s a very personal thing, and it’s a struggle. I felt like I was held captive by it, and as a health care professional, I didn’t feel like I could reach out to anybody.”

Vander Linden said he didn’t know how long he would be away from the pharmacy since it depends on a future agreement with the Iowa Board of Pharmacy.

“More than likely, the odds are that I’ll have a period of time off for months or a year, and then I should be able to come back with certain things in place,” he said. “The board of pharmacy has certain monitoring parameters to help physicians to be able to continue to practice, but make sure these struggles don’t come back up, so to speak.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com