Last month the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced that Walgreens agreed to pay up to $350,000,000 to resolve allegations that its pharmacies illegally filled millions of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances in violation of the federal Controlled …
Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) civil monetary settlements involving listed chemicals that do not include pseudoephedrine are rare. Even more scarce are DEA civil settlements with non-registrants. (By my count there have been only ten since 2000). When one comes along, it is worthwhile to sit …
With a nod to the immortal phrase, “Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!” uttered by body collector Eric Idle, and to the Knights Who Say “Ni!,” from the 1975 comedy romp, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in calling attention to Drug Enforcement …
In August 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), based on the federal Controlled Substances Act’s (“CSA’s”) Eight Factor Analysis, recommended that the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) reschedule marijuana from schedule I to schedule III. The U.S. Department of Justice subsequently conducted …
One of the most significant issues facing hospitals and other facilities is the diversion of controlled substances meant for patients by physicians, pharmacists, nurses and other trusted healthcare employees. Recent employee diversion of significant controlled substance quantities from hospitals has resulted in large civil monetary settlements, …
Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) John Mulrooney conducted a prehearing conference hearing on Monday, December 2nd, to kick off the public hearing on the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ’s”) notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) to reschedule marijuana. The NPRM seeks to reschedule marijuana from schedule I of …
Last May the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) to transfer marijuana from schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) to schedule III. Schedules of Controlled Substances: Rescheduling of Marijuana, 89 Fed. Reg. …
Eric Idle, as a body collector, immortalized the phrase, “Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!” in the 1975 comedy classic, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) would do well to update that phrase as “Bring out your meds! …
Who says nothing happens in Washington, D.C., in August? The Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) will announce Thursday in the Federal Register that it will hold a hearing on the proposed rescheduling of marijuana to schedule III at DEA Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia on December 2, …
States better get ready, Rescheduling may be coming, You may need to make changes, You may need to do more, Than just get on board. (With apologies to Curtis Mayfield) By the close of the public comment period for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (“DEA’s”) proposal to reschedule marijuana two weeks ago, …
The Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) has received more than 27,000 public comments in response to its May 21, 2024, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) to reschedule marijuana from schedule I to schedule III. However, none may carry more weight than a short comment just over …
We blogged in February 2022 about the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (“DEA’s”) revocation of Gulf Med Pharmacy’s registration after finding that it failed to exercise its corresponding responsibility by repeatedly filling controlled substance prescriptions that exhibited “obvious red flags of diversion without documenting the resolution of …
It seems as though we cannot get through a week without hearing about controlled substance diversion by employees at another hospital or healthcare facility. We learned this week that Palomar Health, one of California’s largest healthcare districts, agreed to pay $250,000 to resolve allegations that numerous …
Last August Health and Human Services (“HHS”) recommended rescheduling marijuana from schedule I under the federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) to schedule III. We wondered how given that HHS and the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) conducted eight-factor scheduling analyses in 2016, concluding that there was …
Employee diversion of controlled substances from hospitals has been an issue since at least 1986 when I became a diversion investigator with the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”). But there has been a recent string of large civil monetary settlements, some in the millions of dollars, …
