A tribal pharmacy in St. Ignatius, on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana, was unable to account for roughly 2,500 oxycodone tablets between March 2017 and March 2018. The gap came to light as missing opioids rather than as a documented theft by any identified individual, and no individual was named or charged in the reported resolution.
After learning that the opioids were missing, the Drug Enforcement Administration inspected the pharmacy. Inspectors found that staff were not adequately tracking controlled substances. The pharmacy also had not filed the required report with the DEA notifying the agency that oxycodone was missing.
The matter was resolved through a civil settlement between the U.S. Attorney's Office and the tribal government that operates the pharmacy. The pharmacy agreed to pay $95,000 and to comply with federal law and DEA regulations on the tracking of controlled substances. Any future violation would expose the pharmacy to a $240,000 fine. A settlement of this kind resolves the government's claims without a finding of liability.
A DEA regional official was quoted as saying the tribes were taking the issue seriously. The case is notable for treating recordkeeping and reporting failures themselves as the enforceable violation, independent of whether the underlying loss was ever traced to a specific person.