A federal judge blocked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from suspending a Louisiana drug distributor from selling controlled substances over allegations it failed to identify suspicious orders of opioids that were diverted for illicit uses.
U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Foote in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Tuesday entered a temporary restraining order blocking the DEA from enforcing an order issued last week that immediately suspended Morris & Dickson Co’s registration.
A DEA probe focusing on purchases of the highly addictive painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone showed that, in some cases, pharmacies were allowed to buy as much as six times the quantity of narcotics they would normally order, the agency said.
The DEA on Friday announced it was suspending the registration of privately-held Morris & Dickson, saying the distributer failed to properly identify large, suspicious orders of drugs sold to independent pharmacies.
However in a brief order, Foote wrote that the drug wholesale distributor had demonstrated a substantial likelihood that it would be able to prove the agency’s action was “arbitrary and capricious.”
The judge scheduled a May 22 hearing to determine whether she should issue a preliminary injunction that would further block the DEA’s action.
The U.S. government is trying to crack down on opioid abuse through a number of measures, including a proposal last month to tighten rules governing the amount of prescription opioid painkillers that drugmakers can manufacture in a given year.
Paul Dickson, Morris & Dickson’s president, in a statement said the ruling “means that tens of thousands of patients, many of whom are critical care, are able to get their desperately-needed medications.”
The DEA did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Family-owned Morris & Dickson was founded in 1841 and is the largest independently owned and privately held drug wholesale distributor in the United States, according to its court filing.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 42,000 people died nationwide from opioid overdoses in 2016, the last year with publicly available data.
Filed under: General Problems
I hate to take the Lord’s name in vein but Jesus Christ when are we gonna put an end to the War on Drugs and the DEA. Its time for Congress to hear loud and clear Americans are done with it!
Thanks for the update… I know a reason wasn’t given, but bet it has to do with the law I mentioned, as it more clearly defines “suspicious order” and if DEA can not prove ” imminent danger” to the community, then they would have a difficult time making such a case…. Whatever happened, I’m glad the community doesn’t have to continue to suffer or pay higher prices from the shortage this surely caused.
UPDATE. I ran across this. Thought you might be interested.
https://www.ktbs.com/news/dea-drops-enforcement-effort-against-morris-dickson/article_9a4f5230-5ae0-11e8-bb8a-b3cec22f535e.html
Oxycodone and Hydrocodone are NOT addictive drugs for the Pain Patients, but the media keeps pushing the lies! Why oh why is it, that for the majority of people, unless they have the same experience of pain , they CANNOT empathize or sympathize with those who do?
Why is it so hard for them to “get” this? Have they no imagination at all? Most women have burnt themselves on a stove, and most men/women have suffered a painful athletic injury (And yes, I know men cook too). And if the general public can’t feel sorry for us and realize that at some point everyone is just an accident/ disease/ disorder away from joining us —– don’t they care about babies and children who are being made to suffer terrible pain and agony?
I guess not. Most women can’t believe that when babies are torn limb from limb in an abortion there is any “discomfort”!
The DEA is known to allow licensing convicted felons and drug addicts. Investigations into allrged violations can take uo to 2 years.
And if DEA has been doing its damn job, 1000s of heroin and fentanyl deaths could have been avoided. Instead they were intimidating law-abiding doctors, pharmacists and millions of chronic pain patients by tortuous cuts or total cessation of pain meds.
Suicides are rising, morw ER visits. I have afib and pvcs. They are kept in check with meds. After they cut my meds by 50%, a dose that did not increase for past 8 yrs, I had about an 8 pain day. My BP skyrocketed, and I went into afib, pvcs. To the ER, and 3 days ICU. And I’m lucky.
CDC and DEA are not medical organizations, they do not treat CP patients. DEA is incompetent, getting fat from muddy civil forfeitures, and both agencies have blood on their hands.
Maggie, yes & don’t forget the DEA was also busy partying with hookers on the cartels’ dime, & IIRC, they didn’t even lose their jobs over it. And they talk about doctors getting kickbacks! Glad you see this, the DEA & other 3 letter agencies need reigned in & to stop trying to justify their very existence by spreading PROPaganda.
This is good! judge may have used our new federal law called Ensuring Patient access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act Of 2017. Iv’e been mentioning it since it passed, because it also protects Doctors from overzealous DEA shut downs, by making them prove imminent danger to patients or a community and gives the distributor, pharmacy or clinic 30 days to explain what looks to be a suspicious order or correct the issue, prior to shut down or suspension or revocation of DEA license.
The new law has been under attack as legislators and DEA type lobbyist insist on its repeal, following a DEA whistleblower show aired on 60 minutes or a similar type weekly news program. I didn’t see it, but the immediate fall out was all over the news and caused Trump’s newly appointed Drug Czar, Tom Marino, to withdraw from consideration. (Right before he named the the 24 yr. old WH aide for the position).
Anyhow, Claire McCaskill really made it her mission to get this law repealed, but I saw an article recently that reported she couldn’t find enough support from the right to get anything done. Sometimes I’m with her, but wasn’t with her on this. It upset me, when I saw how the media can go after a good thing and destroy it in a weekend. I even emailed Dr. Bob Twillman at AIPM to see if they were as concerned, as I was, about the new law’s potential fate. He had already penned a letter to Sen. Orin Hatch.
If the new law was used in this case, then it could be used again in the future to slow the DEA from acting in ways that hurts people. They need this type of speed bump in my opinion. I recently read an article you shared about the DEA going after the MAT treatment facilities. COME ON!!!! Really? Yes, DEA needs to be made to show cause in court before they act to destroy a doctor or a family owned distributor, who may not recover after a shut down. Think of all the patients who would be impacted… SMH…