DEA Fines Walgreen's $80 Million for Selling Prescription Painkillers

The DEA slams another American business just selling people substances that they want, because, well, they should have known that people involved had the wrong motives in wanting to possess those pills.

From Reuters the other day:

Walgreen Co, the largest U.S. drugstore chain, has agreed to pay $80 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations that it violated federal rules governing the distribution of prescription painkillers.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday said the settlement is the largest in its history.

The DEA accused Walgreen of committing an "unprecedented" number of record-keeping and dispensing violations of the Controlled Substances Act.

As a result, the DEA said, Walgreen negligently allowed controlled substances such as the narcotic oxycodone and other prescription painkillers to be distributed to abusers and sold illegally on the black market….

As part of the settlement, Walgreen admitted that it failed to uphold its obligations as a DEA registrant.

Six Walgreen pharmacies in Florida and a distribution center in Jupiter, Florida were given a two-year ban from dispensing various controlled substances, the DEA said.

Walgreen also agreed to enhance training and compliance programs, and set up a Department of Pharmaceutical Integrity to help prevent similar violations.

Walgreen's public mea culpa and declaration of love for Big Brother.

Re-read early and often Jacob's Sullum's 1997 Reason classic on the government's nightmarish war on painkillers, "No Relief in Sight."

[Hat tip: Meghan Ralston of Drug Police Alliance]

Comments

[DEATFBIRSECIA]

Message to Ed Snowden: If you have anything on these egregious DEA fuckers, let’s have that next, ok?

[Let Me Ride]

Seriously, it’s like we got our own comic-book superhero. How many other political movements can say that?

[DWC]

You know, I have wondered for a long time why the Anonymous – you know, those guys in their grandparents basements with lots of computer gear – have not made any particular effort to go after the purveyors and beneficiaries of the WOD. There is nothing in this country that has resulted in more injustice and corruption and savagery over the past half century than has drug prohibition.

[Invisible Finger]

Six Walgreen pharmacies in Florida and a distribution center in Jupiter, Florida were given a two-year ban from dispensing various controlled substances, the DEA said.

The 80 million isn’t enough, the DEA also demanded a symbolic gesture (the same thing as kissing the prince’s feet).

[Episiarch]

Let’s not forget that all the people who got the banned drugs at those pharmacies now have to go somewhere else.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I suppose it’s easier and more profitable than having to go to every pain sufferer and manually inflicting more pain.

[Zeb]

Great. Now it’s going to take even longer to get a prescription filled. How fucking long does it take to ount out some pills and put them in a bottle? Half an hour, apparently.

Were the prescriptions obviously illegitimate? If not, then WTF?

[Duke]

A man cannot serve two masters. This is what happens when you’re in league with Satan and have to have a DEA license to sell drugs.

[SIV]

Was Walgreens dispensing narcotic analgesics over the counter?
Why didn’t somebody tell me?

[MP]

“they should have known that people involved had the wrong motives in wanting to possess those pills”

Is there some particular reason why you said this? Where in the complain is customer motivation even remotely an issue? Isn’t this simply all about not following the DEA’s byzantine rules about scheduled pharma?

[Mr Whipple]

FFS. If the big national drug stores can’t handle all of the necessary paperwork, there’s no way any “Mom & Pop” drug stores can.

Perhaps this is some sort of poetic justice, since it was all of the regulations that crushed the small stores. I guess Walgreens got a little too cocky, and had to be kicked down a notch.

It’s probably easier just to buy generic Roxies on Silk Road.

[Sevo]

“Perhaps this is some sort of poetic justice, since it was all of the regulations that crushed the small stores”

Lefties claim it was Wally World.

[Almanian!]

I blame Bush

[Acosmist]

It was probably economies of scale that crushed the small stores. js

[Enough About Palin]

“Walgreen Co, the largest U.S. drugstore chain, has agreed to pay $80 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations that it violated federal rules governing the distribution of prescription painkillers.”

Government shakedown.

[TRx Rph]

Your pharmacist does not want to loose there license from the DEA commandments. Has the DEA not see the demand is from the Public, Perhaps from the lack of good Heroin due to poppy trade from the Middle East falling waste side to tyranny and war. By the way, why not burn all the poppy fields in Tasmania? The largest supplier of pharmaceutical poppy for our addictions and true therapeutic use. If addicts want and role play as chronic pain patients and are willing to lie and fib. It use to be a greater moral crime to deny a patient from access to pain medication. Today it’s more of a norm.Sacrificing the pharmaceutical goat just increased the street price and has profiled the pharmacy for a good gun hold up. For those in true Pain and need relief, regretfully the boat has sailed. head to Tasmania. You have been passively criminalized. Since they have names of every individual that has received the medication the DEA should send fines and tax penalties to collect. Its the bad bad Pharmacy doing there job to serve the public’s cry . Now there is no time to waste your tears it will just increase the street prices higher and me to face the end of a gun at work. They tax the air and water why not controlled substances since the departments are all broke and abusive to there rule. Also perhaps Embargo Tasmania and send there economy into a tail spin and sue them for all there worth to give it to them. TRx my 2cent.

[SIV]

I truly hope English is your second or third language.

[Eric L]

Is one arm of the Feds (the DEA) going to go after another (the VA)? The VA is one of the biggest dispenser of prescription drugs; all those active duty military and their families, veterans and widows/widowers of veterans. My mother-in-law, a veteran’s widow, got Vicodin prescriptions from three different local doctors and had all three filled at the local VA at almost no cost to her. She was going in every few weeks for refills. This went on for nearly three years until someone finally caught on at the VA – great internal controls. She was selling the Vicodin to others. I do not believe she is the only one doing something like this. What pisses me off is why should taxpayers subsidize her drug dealing?

[Cdr Lytton]

Uhm, bullshit. First, VA doesn’t provide care to active duty or dependents. Second, they don’t provide care to non-veterans (“veteran’s widow”). Third, VA pharmacies won’t fill an outside prescription unless your assigned VA doc signs off on it.

[WomSom]

lol, thats jsut too funny dude. Funny how a truck load of cash suddenly makes it all ok.

http://www.AnonStuff.tk

[Polo Ralph Lauren outlet]

Even drugs are fake, I really do not know what else we can believe.
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