Why It Matters
The Iowa Board of Pharmacy has taken disciplinary action against licensees for serious violations ranging from felony convictions to medication dispensing errors, underscoring the regulatory oversight that protects patient safety and public health across the state’s pharmacy sector.
What Happened
The Iowa Board of Pharmacy has sanctioned multiple licensees and a pharmacy chain following violations discovered over the past several years. In one case, Scott Decker, a pharmacist from Blue Grass, surrendered his Iowa pharmacy license after the board charged him with knowingly making misleading or fraudulent representations and with conviction of an offense directly relating to pharmacy profession duties.
Decker’s case originated in 2021 when Scott County deputies obtained a search warrant for his email and cellphone after discovering an email address associated with uploading 18 images of alleged child pornography. He was charged with two counts of felony sexual exploitation of a minor. In November 2022, Decker was found guilty of both counts and sentenced to two concurrent five-year prison terms. The board did not discover his conviction until February 2023. Decker and the board settled the disciplinary case in May 2026, with Decker voluntarily surrendering his license.
Miola Gossman, a pharmacy technician from Decorah, agreed to surrender her license after the board charged her with violating an agreement with the Iowa Professional Health Committee by failing to comply with treatment program requirements. In January 2024, Gossman had signed an agreement with the committee following five drunken-driving convictions she accrued between January 2022 and October 2023. The board found that Gossman missed 50 separate check-ins with her treatment program over a seven-month period.
A Hy-Vee Pharmacy location in Des Moines also faced sanctions for a medication dispensing error. On September 8, 2025, the pharmacy at 3330 Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway inadvertently dispensed medication intended for one patient to another customer with the same name and similar birthdate. The pharmacy had two patients with matching names, each with two prescriptions ready for pickup. A daughter who came to collect her mother’s medication was given drugs intended for the other patient instead. According to the board’s complaint, the daughter alleged a similar error had occurred previously. The pharmacy also allegedly failed to complete required reports for the September 2025 incident.
The board charged Hy-Vee Pharmacy with negligence in practice of the profession, divulging or revealing patient information to unauthorized individuals, and committing medication errors resulting in incorrect dispensing of prescribed drugs. The pharmacy and board settled the case with a $3,000 civil penalty.
By the Numbers
18 — photographic images alleged to constitute child pornography linked to Decker’s email address
2 — felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor for which Decker was convicted
5 — concurrent five-year prison sentences imposed on Decker in November 2022
5 — drunken-driving convictions accrued by Gossman between January 2022 and October 2023
50 — separate treatment program check-ins missed by Gossman over a seven-month span
2 — patients with the same name involved in the September 2025 Hy-Vee Pharmacy dispensing error
$3,000 — civil penalty paid by Hy-Vee Pharmacy in settlement
Zoom Out
State pharmacy boards across the country regularly discipline licensees for criminal convictions, substance abuse violations, and operational failures. Medication dispensing errors and patient safety breaches remain persistent concerns in retail pharmacy operations, particularly in high-volume settings where patient identification safeguards may be inadequate. Iowa’s regulatory actions reflect standard board enforcement mechanisms designed to protect the public from practitioners with serious criminal histories or demonstrated inability to comply with professional standards.
What’s Next
Decker’s pharmacy license has been surrendered, and Gossman’s license surrender is pending board approval. Hy-Vee Pharmacy has paid its civil penalty and remains open to operating under whatever corrective measures the board may require. The cases demonstrate the board’s willingness to pursue disciplinary action months or years after violations are discovered, suggesting ongoing scrutiny of licensee conduct and compliance with professional agreements.