Vancouver Island pharmacist suspended after distributing human placenta pills

A pharmacist in Courtenay, BC has been suspended after distributing drugs that contain human placenta, without having the regulatory approval to provide that service.

Isidoro Andres “Rudy” Sanchez, who managed the now closed Marigold Compounding and Natural Pharmacy, handled and prepared pills containing placenta “with little evident regard for safety protocols necessary when handling human tissue,” reads a report from the College of Pharmacists of BC.

The practice was not the only issue under question, as Sanchez was also found using “unsterile and generally unclean facilities” to produce over-the-counter drugs that he was not authorized to distribute.

Moreover, he has been counselling patients on alternative drug therapies without the official sanctions to do so. Several patients were also found to have incorrect health care records as a result of documentation errors by the pharmacy.

Health Canada has not approved the distribution and use of placenta pills in Canada.

Sanchez has been ordered to pay a fine of $115,000, and he will not be allowed to apply for reinstatement of registration for at least six years.