Richard A. Sheriff, 73, of Easley, has pleaded guilty to adulteration of a drug and been sentenced to two years of probation. Sheriff also forfeited $166,000 in revenues. Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that Sheriff was the owner and pharmacist-in-charge of Shertech, a pharmacy providing nuclear and radiopharmaceutical drugs to medical facilities in the Greenville area. From January 2018–June 2019, Sheriff and pharmacists under his direction, would “fractionate” or “split” the active ingredient of Technescan MAG3, without ensuring the pieces were equal in size, purity or strength. This compounding was done without proper protective gear, testing, or quality assurance. The resulting diluted product was used in procedures such as renal scans to diagnose various illnesses, such as kidney disease. Sheriff did not notify his customers when he dispensed radioactive MAG3 that the amount of active ingredient was diluted. As such, Shertech created a risk of poor-quality patient scans and potential repeated scans that would expose patients to additional radiation.
