As law enforcement around the country continue to battle the opioid epidemic currently raging in the U.S., federal officials say they’ve made a sizable bust in New York City, seizing enough fentanyl and heroin “to kill half the population” of the Big Apple. [More]
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Medical Marijuana Industry Uneasy About Its Future Under Trump Administration
By 5.15.17
Despite the fact that Congress recently passed a new spending bill that included a provision prohibiting the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Agency from interfering in states’ medical marijuana programs, the industry remains wary of President Trump’s administration and its stance on the drug. [More]
Slew Of New Bills Aim To Reform Marijuana Laws At Federal Level
By 3.30.17
While the Trump Administration has hinted at a coming crackdown on non-medical use of marijuana, federal legislators continue to introduce new bills — some with bipartisan support — intended to further legitimize the cannabis industry. [More]
6 Easy Ways To Get Rid Of Unused Medication
By 3.20.17
Today is National Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet Day, and chances are you haven’t given much thought to the unused medications taking up space in your medicine cabinet. [More]
New Legislation Seeks To End Federal Ban On Marijuana
By 3.2.17
The same week that the White House likened legalized recreational marijuana to the opioid epidemic, and let it be known that the Justice Department will likely begin cracking down on non-medical pot, a Republican Congressman from Virginia introduced a law that, if passed, would put an end to the federal criminalization of marijuana. [More]
Costco Settles Federal Charges That It Turned Blind Eye To Bad Prescriptions
By 1.20.17
Costco has reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay $11.75 million to resolve federal allegations that the warehouse club’s pharmacies violated the Controlled Substances Act by filling prescriptions they probably shouldn’t have. [More]
Did Big Pharma Hire Dozens Of DEA Officials To Reduce Scrutiny Of Opioid Painkillers?
By 12.22.16
It’s not uncommon for folks at federal agencies to cash in on their public sector connections by taking a high-paying job with a company they used to regulate. But when it comes to the pharmaceuticals industry’s hiring of dozens of Drug Enforcement Administration officials, the question is whether these former DEA staffers were being hired because of what they could contribute, or because it was better for the industry to get them out of law enforcement. [More]
DEA Denies Governors’ Petitions To Reclassify Marijuana For Medical Use
By 8.11.16 — Updated: 2.23.17
Half the states and the District of Columbia have passed laws legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, but the plant remains an illegal, Schedule I drug on the federal level. Five years after the governors of Rhode Island and Washington petitioned the Drug Enforcement Administration to reconsider this classification, the DEA has denied their requests. [More]
Report: OxyContin Makers Ignored Internal Warnings Of “Organized Drug Ring” & Pill Mills
By 7.18.16
As the current opioid addiction/overdose epidemic spread out across America over the last 20 years, it wasn’t just greedy drugstore chains that turned a blind eye to fake and questionable prescriptions. A new report highlights how the company behind one of the epidemic’s signature drugs ignored warning signs of obvious illegal activity. [More]
Prosecutors: FedEx “Should Be Treated Just Like Any Other Drug Courier”
By 6.13.16
Two years after federal prosecutors charged FedEx with being criminally complicit in the transporting of illegal drugs from online pharmacies, the case is finally going to trial. In this morning’s opening statements, lawyers for the Justice Department urged the court to not be swayed by the famous brand name on the side of the planes. [More]
CVS Must Pay $450K To Settle Claims That Pharmacies Filled Bogus Prescriptions
By 8.10.15
CVS Health agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a years-long investigation by Rhode Island and the Drug Enforcement Administration that several of its locations filled forged and invalid painkiller prescriptions in violation of federal laws. [More]
CVS Feels Pain Of $22 Million Penalty For Florida Painkiller Pill Mills
By 5.14.15
When you think of Florida and the Drug Enforcement Administration, your head might be filled with images of cocaine-packed speedboats or propeller planes sneaking in pallets of marijuana. But in recent years, the DEA has also been focused on major drugstore chains that looked the other way as stores filled massive numbers of questionable painkiller prescriptions. Nearly three years after shutting down a pair of CVS pharmacies in the Orlando area, the company has agreed to pay $22 million to put the matter behind them. [More]
DEA Sued Over Secret Mass Surveillance Of Phone Calls
By 4.8.15
The backlash against the federal government’s surveillance programs continues. This time, the folks at Human Rights Watch have filed suit against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, alleging that the DEA’s bulk collection of data related to certain phone calls made by the organization runs afoul of basic protections afforded by the Constitution. [More]
DEA To Change Classification of Some Frequently-Abused Painkillers Like Vicodin
By 8.22.14
As a country, we sure do like our prescription painkillers. In fact, we like them a bit too much: Americans consume 99% of all hydrocodone drugs manufactured in the world. Prescription drug abuse — and deaths from overdose — are rampant. The DEA is hoping to stem the tide of abuse and overdose with a new rule that changes the way some painkillers are classified, and will make them harder for individuals to get. [More]
Why Can’t You Get Medical Marijuana At CVS Or Walgreens?
By 5.13.14
Even though marijuana has been legalized by Colorado and Washington, and nearly two dozen states have laws protecting medical use of marijuana, you won’t be seeing it made available at your local pharmacy unless the federal government decides to legalize it. [More]
CVS Being Investigated After 37,000 Pain Pills Go Missing
By 3.11.14
The shelves of pharmacies are full of pills, tablets, capsules, and liquids that are worth a lot of money, especially to addicts. So when more than 37,000 prescription pain pills vanish from handful of CVS stores, the authorities get involved. [More]
DEA: Walgreens Ignored Signs, Encouraged Questionable Sales Of Oxycodone At Florida Pharmacies
By 7.2.13
Earlier this summer, the Drug Enforcement Agency slapped Walgreens with a substantial $80 million settlement over allegations that the drugstore chain had allowed an ocean of prescription painkillers to hit the black market in Florida. Now, between revelations from the local police and uncovered DEA documents, the public is finally getting an idea of just how bad the problem was, and how much Walgreens turned a blind eye to illegal activity at its stores. [More]
DEA Searches Six Florida Walgreens Pharmacies
By 4.5.12
As part of its investigation into whether chain drug stores with higher than usual sales of prescription painkillers are actually feeding those drugs to the black market, the DEA has served administrative inspection warrants at six Walgreens stores and one of the chain’s warehouses, all in Florida. [More]
