The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently issued a new regulation codifying provisions of the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act of 2014 (VMMA). The VMMA, which was signed into law in 2014, allows a veterinarian to...more
This week, DEA announced it has entered into a settlement agreement with Morris & Dickson Co., LLC (“Morris & Dickson”), resolving the protracted dispute born out of a May 2, 2018 Order to Show Cause (“OTSC”) and Immediate...more
In 2020, over 142 million prescriptions for opioid medications were filled in the U.S. That same year, 16,416 people died from overdoses on prescription opioids—a 376% increase from 1999....more
On August 4, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) announced plans to host two public listening sessions, scheduled to take place on September 12 and 13, 2023 at DEA’s headquarters in Arlington, VA, to collect...more
On June 14, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released an updated Practitioner’s Manual, the first new version of the manual since 2006. The Practitioner’s Manual provides guidance for all DEA registrants handling...more
The Big Picture - On February 24, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued two proposed rules that address the prescribing of controlled...more
While critics keep throwing up a false narrative about “ambulance chasing,” self-enriching lawyers, their labors and the civil legal system have proven yet again their effectiveness in wringing financial justice for those...more
In Justice Breyer’s final opinion from the bench in a 9-0 decision, the United States Supreme Court clarified that for a physician to be criminally convicted of distributing a controlled substance, the Department of Justice...more
On June 27, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Ruan v. United States, No. 20-1410, and Kahn v. United States, No. 21-5261, in a consolidated ruling. The Court held that when a criminal defendant is authorized to dispense...more
The Supreme Court will hear argument next week in two consolidated cases that will decide what standard applies when a doctor asserts a good faith defense to a criminal prosecution for unlawful drug distribution. ...more
Health workers with legal prescribing privileges have gotten newly revised federal guidelines — once again — making it easier for them to help those addicted to powerful opioid painkillers by prescribing buprenorphine,...more
The opioid abuse and drug overdose crisis has tarred yet another of the nation’s business titans: McKinsey, a globally renowned consulting firm, has discovered that providing corporate clients sketchy advice about addictive,...more
Complimentary webinar with the DEA on Controlled Substances! During this global pandemic, the Diversion Control Division is working to assure that there is an adequate supply of controlled substances in the United States,...more
The pharmacy defendants – major national corporations CVS Pharmacy, Inc., Rite Aid of Maryland, Inc., Walgreen Co., and Walmart Inc., sued by Long Island counties Nassau and Suffolk (County Plaintiffs) in their capacities as...more
In response to the opioid epidemic, many states, including Texas, created prescription drug monitoring programs to monitor high-risk patients and provider behaviors. The Texas Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (“PMP”) is...more
In Lebanon County Employees’ Retirement Fund, et al. v. AmerisourceBergen Corporation, the Delaware Court of Chancery ordered the inspection of the books and records of AmerisourceBergen Corporation, one of the leading opioid...more
In a 63-page decision issued on Jan. 13, 2020, in Lebanon County Employees’ Retirement Fund v. AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery found that stockholders of...more
In July, The Washington Post published data showing approximately 76 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pills were purchased and sold in the Unites States from 2006 to 2012. The data came from the Automation of Reports and...more
At the close of the 2018 session, the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 675, which if allowed to become law by the Governor, will help hospitals and their facilities that are under common control manage their...more