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Revocation of pharmacist’s license stayed
The Boardman man is free on bond under an indictment on 108 counts.
YOUNGSTOWN — A county judge has stayed the revocation of a Boardman man’s pharmacy license until further notice.
Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court issued the stay Monday for Gary A. Evankovich, 54, of Devonshire Drive, who is appealing the state’s permanent revocation of his pharmacy license.
After a four-day hearing, the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy terminated Evankovich’s license last month based on allegations that he participated in a long- distance Internet prescription scheme involving more than 15,000 prescriptions and almost 1.5 million medication doses.
The board found Evankovich guilty of filling prescriptions, primarily for out-of-state patients, between October 2005 and June 2006 without ensuring that a valid doctor-patient relationship and a legitimate medical purpose existed for them.
In his request for the stay, Evankovich said he is the sole supporter of his wife and family and a 50 percent owner of the company that employs several people at North Lima and Bel-Park pharmacies. Those people could lose their jobs if Evankovich can’t perform his duties.
In her unsuccessful argument against the stay, Tracy M. Greuel, an assistant Ohio attorney general, said Evankovich offered no evidence to support his hardship claims and that his actions leading to the revocation constituted “a threat to the health and safety of the public.”
Evankovich is free on bond under a new criminal indictment by the county grand jury on 108 counts of illegal processing of drug documents, which pertains to the same reported Internet prescription scheme.
Judge Lou A. D’Apolito had dismissed an earlier indictment against Evankovich on 24 counts of sale of dangerous drugs on the grounds that the law under which Evankovich was charged in that indictment does not apply to state-licensed pharmacists.
In his order granting the stay, Judge Evans said he would review the matter after the 7th District Court of Appeals rules on the prosecution’s appeal of the dismissal and based on the outcome of the case involving the new criminal indictment.
milliken@vindy.com