In May 2019 the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana announced a civil settlement with a pharmaceutical drug distributor. The announcement was framed as a diversion-control matter, and the release is categorized under oxycodone.
The distributor agreed to pay $22 million to resolve civil penalty claims. The settlement resolves civil claims only; the release text available here does not state that the company admitted liability, and a settlement is not a finding of wrongdoing.
The portion of the release available for this entry does not describe how the matter came to the government's attention, what specific conduct was alleged, or what compliance changes, if any, the company agreed to make. Those details should be confirmed against the full press release or the underlying settlement agreement before being added to this record.
The release also directed the public to the DEA's online tip system for reporting suspected opioid-related crimes, reflecting the agency's use of the announcement to encourage reporting of suspected diversion.