The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has stripped one of the nation’s largest drug distributors - Shreveport, La.-based Morris & Dickson Co. - of its license to sell highly addictive painkillers on May 26 after determining it failed to flag thousands of suspicious orders at the height of the opioid crisis.
The action against Morris & Dickson, which may threaten to put it out of business. came two days after an Associated Press investigation found the DEA allowed the company to keep shipping drugs for nearly four years after a judge recommended the harshest penalty for its “cavalier disregard” of rules aimed at preventing opioid abuse.
DEA acknowledged that the time it took to issue a final decision was “longer than typical" but blamed the company in part for holding up the process by seeking delays due to the pandemic and a lengthy pursuit of a settlement.
The order becomes effective in 90 days, allowing more time to negotiate a settlement.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in the 68-page order that M&D failed to accept full responsibility for its actions, including shipping 12,000 large orders of opioids to pharmacies and hospitals between 2014-18.
During that time, the company filed just three suspicious order reports with the DEA.
Morris & Dickson traces its roots to 1840, when its namesake founder arrived from Wales and placed an ad in a local newspaper selling medicines.
It has since become the nation’s fourth-largest wholesale drug distributor with $4B a year in revenue and about 600 employees serving pharmacies and hospitals in 29 states. (The AP 05/26/23) After yearslong delay, DEA revokes license of drug distributor over opioid crisis failures | AP News
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