Huntington Pharmacy Busted for $18 Million Drug Scheme: Locals React

Locals, including an employee and customers, reacted Thursday to the arrests of owners charged with partaking in an elaborate prescription drug scheme that defrauded Medicare and Medi-Cal of millions of dollars.

Huntington Pharmacy Employee Reaction

“Shocked,” was how a nurse who worked part-time at Huntington Pharmacy described her reaction to the arrests and charges Thursday.

The nurse, who did not want to give her name, told Patch Thursday that she has given flu shots at the pharmacy for 10 years, usually working a half-day once a week.

She had “no idea” any criminal activity was taking place at Huntington Pharmacy but declined to comment on whether or not she had seen people come into the pharmacy by the carload to fill prescriptions, which told Patch was an occurrence.

Huntington Pharmacy Customer Reactions

“I’m sick about it,” said Nancy Brink, a 20-year Huntington Pharmacy customer who came to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy Thursday, only to be met with a “Closed Today” sign on the door.

Brink, who lives near the border of San Marino and Pasadena, said she never saw anything suspicious happen at the pharmacy but she did wonder how they were making ends meet.

“The gals behind the counter were great and the pharmacists were great,” said Brink. “I stayed here when I could have gone to Target [to fill my prescriptions]. I trusted them.”

Vera Diedrich, a lifelong customer, also tried unsuccessfully to pick up a prescription at Huntington Pharmacy Thursday and said she was “shocked” to hear about the alleged drug scheme and arrests.

Vera and Jay Diedrich commented that they had never seen anyone except maybe one or two other people in the pharmacy at a time.

Local Business Owner Reactions

Robert Smith, who has owned next to Huntington Pharmacy for over 15 years, said he did not know the pharmacy owners well but the pharmacy was quite busy.

“I was surprised at how busy a little pharmacy could be,” said Smith, who added that he didn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary.

“The only thing I really always noticed was almost every morning if you came early there would be a truck in the back bringing stuff.”

Employees from Captain Marketing, located on the other side of Huntington Pharmacy, said they never saw anything suspicious happen inside or outside of the pharmacy.

“It’s very perplexing,” said one employee of the Huntington Pharmacy owners’ arrests and charges. “We bought Red Bulls and sodas over there. They were very nice.”

Did you ever notice anything suspicious inside or outside of Huntington Pharmacy, such as a carload of people arriving to fill prescriptions? What is your reaction to the owners’ arrests and criminal charges for allegedly defrauding Medicare and Medi-Cal of millions of dollars? Tell us in the comment box below.