The United States filed a civil complaint against an Elkin, North Carolina pharmacy, its owner, and four of its pharmacists, alleging violations of the Controlled Substances Act. The complaint alleged that the defendants dispensed prescription opioids while ignoring obvious indications of abuse, diversion, and drug-seeking behavior.
According to the complaint, the pharmacy filled dangerous combination prescriptions, filled long-term high-dose opioid prescriptions that exceeded known treatment recommendations, filled prescriptions for patients who appeared to be shopping among doctors or pharmacies, and filled prescriptions from prescribers suspected of illegal prescribing. One of those prescribers had been barred by the North Carolina Medical Board from prescribing controlled substances.
The case was investigated by the DEA's diversion group in Greensboro together with the Justice Department's Consumer Protection Branch and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of North Carolina. The defendants agreed to resolve the suit through a consent decree rather than litigate.
The court ordered a $500,000 penalty and entered a permanent injunction that prohibits the defendants from filling certain red-flag prescriptions and requires them to obtain documentation justifying other prescriptions before dispensing. The claims resolved by the consent decree are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.