DEA reverses decision stripping drug distributor of licenses for fueling opioid crisis
ABC News
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is allowing one of the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributors to stay in business, reversing an earlier order stripping the company of its licenses for its failure to properly monitor the shipment of tens ...
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is allowing one of the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributors to stay in business, reversing an earlier order stripping the company of its licenses for its failure to properly monitor the shipment of tens of millions of addictive painkillers blamed for fueling the opioid crisis.
As part of the settlement announced Wednesday, Morris & Dickson Co. agreed to admit wrongdoing, comply with heightened reporting requirements and surrender one of its two certificates of registration with the DEA. The Shreveport, La.-based company, which has around 600 employees and generates about $4 billion a year in revenue, also agreed to forfeit $19 million.
Last May, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram revoked both of Morris & Dickson's licenses after an investigation by The Associated Press found the nation's fourth-largest drug distributor kept shipping drugs for nearly four years after a federal judge recommended the harshest penalty for its “cavalier disregard” of rules aimed at preventing opioid abuse.
“Of all the cases I handled as an administrative law judge for the DEA, Morris & Dickson’s violations were the most blatant and egregious,” Judge Charles Dorman told the AP. “In addition, I saw no real acceptance of responsibility for their violations.”
The yearslong delay in issuing the order shined a light on Washington's revolving door after the AP reported that Milgram's handpicked deputy at the DEA, Louis Milione, was previously a consultant for Morris & Dickson, Purdue Pharma and other drugmakers blamed for the opioid epidemic.
