DEA, State Attorney’s staff meet to discuss prescription drug problem in Florida
Staff members from Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office and Drug Enforcement Administration officials had a closed-door meeting Tuesday to discuss the prescription drug issues plaguing Florida.
Assistant Special Agent in Charge of Central Florida Jeff Walsh refused to discuss the details of the meeting, saying only that it was an operational meeting and that he had no comment.
Before the meeting began, Attorney General’s aides said they would raise concerns about legitimate patient prescriptions being denied and ways the DEA could address the issue.
Both Gov. Rick Scott and Bondi have pointed the finger at the DEA. But when WESH 2 talked to the DEA earlier this year, officials said this was an issue between pharmacists and patients.
“We do not go in and tell a pharmacy or pharmacist you have to fill this,” Walsh said.
However, a recent DEA letter suggests there might be something that can be done.
A.D. Wright, the top DEA official for the state, attended Tuesday’s closed-door meeting at the DEA’s Tallahassee office. Last month he wrote a letter to Bondi saying patients unable to fill legitimate prescriptions is “very concerning,” adding, “as we joined forces to eradicate pill mills, rogue doctors and those flagrant pharmacies…I’m confident we will continue to work together in finding solutions to help our citizens.”
At the State Capitol, lawmakers are optimistic the meeting will get the ball rolling on finding a fix to the current crisis.
“I’ve spoken with the Attorney General. She’s assured me that they’re working to try to make sure this issue is being resolved,” said Rep. Dwayne Taylor. “It’s extremely important.”
“It opens up an important dialogue to truly get the true periphery of what the issue is,” said Sen. Darren Soto.
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Bondi’s office released the following statement: “Members of the Attorney General’s staff today met with members of the Drug Enforcement Agency to discuss reports of episodic incidences of patients unable to fulfill legitimate scripts for pain medication. Today’s meeting was helpful in understanding the complexities of this serious issue.”
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Filed under: General Problems
NOT Episodic
Consistent
The only action will come in the Tort area.
These patients have been
Are being
And will continue to be harmed.
Class action
Or
Direct legal action against the harming pharmacists
Is the only way to turn it around.
What started this?
Consider it was the heavy fines levied by the DEA against chain pharmacies.
So
Heavy $$$$ leverage will shift the tilted plating field.
Episodic incidents?
Episode: an event or a group of events occurring as part of a larger sequence; an incident or period considered in isolation.
They’re trying so hard to portray the war against pain patients and their doctors and pharmacists as one that only affects a small percentage of people and is something they can now fix. As if the increase in doctors refusing to treat pain patients is episodic. As if something can be done about fear of the DEA in the medical industry.
I wonder if they would consider the increase in suicides as episodic too?