HONALO — The arrest of Dr. Clif Arrington of Honalo has led to massive changes for his patients, several of whom say they have been cut off from prescription refills by a number of local pharmacies.
Arrington was arrested by the Narcotics Enforcement Division on March 17 and released, pending investigation. He was not charged with a crime, although Toni Schwartz, a spokeswomen for the division, said they were investigating violations of the State Controlled Substances Act. The case remains under investigation.
His license to practice medicine is current, valid and in good standing, according to the Professional Vocation and Licensing Division of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
But some pharmacies in the Kona area are refusing to fill prescriptions for his patients.
One of those patients is Maria Gollestani, who went to the Safeway pharmacy on Monday for a refill on thyroid and blood pressure medications that require a daily dose. The pharmacist did not fill her prescription, she said, and instructed her to find another pharmacy.
“What happens to all those people who were seeing Dr. Arrington?” she asked.
Gollestani has been a patient and intermittent employee of Arrington for almost two decades. She said there was no chance that he would knowingly engage in unethical or illegal activity.
“I’ve seen him take bananas as payment for someone who was sick,” she said.
Being denied medication is dangerous, Gollestani said, as it can lead to diabetic shock or any number of health disasters.
Oshima Drugs in Kainaliu is operating as normal, said pharmacist in charge Corinn Oshima-Koseda. She said she was informed other pharmacists agreed to not have their pharmacies fill prescriptions from Arrington, despite the fact he was not charged with a crime. She said she’s noticed an increase in business from Arrington’s patients.
Oshima continues to fill Arrington’s prescriptions, she says, and accepts new patients whose medications are not controlled substances. But they are not able to accept new patients who have controlled substance prescriptions from Arrington, she said.
Controlled prescriptions are for drugs under the Controlled Substance Act, and include ones such as oxycodone and Adderall.
In a letter provided by Arrington’s attorney, Robert Kim, CVS sent a letter stating that they will not fill or refill controlled substance prescriptions Arrington writes. CVS owns Longs Drugs, the Target pharmacy and other brand names.
“We take our compliance obligations very seriously, and, in light of recent events, find it necessary to take this action,” the letter concludes.
The Target pharmacy in Kailua-Kona is filling non-controlled medications, said pharmacist Nicole Miyahira.
They do not have many patients from Arrington’s practice, she said, but have had numerous calls from his patients seeking to have their prescriptions filled. But because of the ongoing investigation, she is cautious about issuing controlled substances.
“I feel for the patients,” she said, because they didn’t do anything to face the potential loss of medications.
She is advising patients with controlled substance prescriptions to seek another doctor for that medication.
In a video provided by Kim, a woman goes to the former Mina Pharmacy that is now a Longs/CVS.
The video shows that she is informed that agents from the DEA told the pharmacists to not fill any prescriptions from Arrington, although a prescription from another doctor would be acceptable.
But special agent Timothy Massino denied the DEA did any such thing, as the agency is not involved in the case.
The state, as well, denied doing anything like that.
“We do not advise pharmacists what to do with prescriptions, they have the discretion and latitude under law to fill or not fill a prescription,” Schwartz wrote.
Calls to several pharmacies led to statements of “no comment” or were not returned.
The pharmacist in charge of the KMart pharmacy, John Fujito, said he had no comment. The Safeway pharmacist directed questions to their press office. The call was not returned as of press time Tuesday. A call left with KTA Pharmacy was not returned. Malama Pharmacy also did not return a call.
Arrington was arrested during normal business hours, disrupting patient visits and leading to confusion about what was happening. He was released the same day. It led to a number of inquiries if his practice was still open.
Deborah Arrington, Clif Arrington’s wife, said the practice remains open and is operating as normal. Both declined to comment further, referring questions to their attorney.
