I recently wrote about a RPH that has been targeted -thru their wholesaler – that the pharmacy is selling more C-II than DEA numbers say they should..
https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=3929
This has nothing to do with a “bad audit” of the pharmacy by the DEA.. it is apparently based on just the pure number of doses that are being dispensed..
It would seem that this pharmacy is part of a national franchise… and the franchisor is one of the national wholesalers… I have been told that part of the franchisee agreement is that the pharmacy MUST buy at least 95% of all purchases from the franchisor/wholesaler…
Of course this wholesaler got their ass in trouble with the DEA in Florida a couple of years ago.. because the DEA claimed that they should have not sold an excessive number of C-II doses to a few pharmacies… but.. this pharmacy is a couple of THOUSAND MILES from the wholesaler’s Florida distribution center.
So we have a franchisee that is bound by a franchisee agreement to buy 95% of their products from this wholesaler and this same wholesaler has cut off all deliveries of control drugs..
So it would appear that the franchisor is violating their MUST BUY/MUST SELL part of the franchisee/franchisor agreement…
It has been reported that someone from the E-suite of the franchisor called and told the franchisee.. that they really just need to “shut the operation down”…
What happened to innocent until proven guilty… what happen to due process … This is a independent pharmacy/pharmacist.. with a huge investment in the business and probably a sizable debt.. may even has pledged their personal residence to back any/all loans.. Just “toss in the towel”… because the DEA “thinks” that this pharmacy is dispensing too many controls…
Where in the hell does the DEA get the authority to basically practice medicine? IMO.. denying a pt need medications… is practicing medicine.. just in a perverted way..
That also doesn’t take into the fact that there are untold numbers of chronic pain pts .. that the DEA will be throwing these pts into not only elevated pain.. but .. most likely withdrawal.. Does anyone believe that intentionally throwing a pt into withdrawal … is not TORTURE ? How many of these pts are also going to be thrown into a depression over all these problems.. how many are going to “give up” and commit suicide… which they will probably due with their drugs.. so the DEA .. will then count their death as another one from “drug abuse”..
If anyone in law enforcement .. tazers, shoots, kills someone… they are put on desk duty and there is an investigation… hell >50% of the DEA staff of ~ 8000… already just sit at a desk.. But apparently those in the DEA .. are exempt from all of these constraints …
Is there a reason that the media…. has not caught on to this?.. Has the DEA got the ability to intimidate our free press? Maybe the deaths are just not as visible as those from the mess that NECC created… I guess that because these poor pts ends up doing their suffering in the privacy of their own homes… no one really notices… and apparently no one really seems to care..
Filed under: General Problems
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I just sent a message to my senator concerning this issue with the DEA. I fill rx’s for his father and he knows it. I made the remark about how he would feel if his father had cancer and he could not get pain meds.
Steve, I whole heartedly agree with everything you said. This whole matter is ‘frightening’. As it appears, there are going to be a lot of people with pain issues that are not going to be able to get their meds. And, the independent pharmacist has been doing a valuable service to people in pain. He is not catering to addicts, but to people that have severe pain. The DEA comes along and is blocking pain medications going to the pharmacy. This is outrageous! Where are the pharmacy organizations on this matter? Where is the media? Where are the ‘bleeding hearts’ when they are needed? I think the public believes the DEA is actually doing something worth while. A reporter should take a look at what the DEA has done over the past 2 decades and what they are doing now and report his conclusion. My guess is that the DEA has done about as much harm as good. We would probably be better served if that agency was just abolished. They have flaunted their authority for years, which has mostly been against drug dealers. But, today, they are going after innocent pharmacists and they are blocking pain meds to patients. It appears they are after shutting down the supply of most pain meds. There should be a debate in Congress and the American people need to know what is happening. They are clearly over stepping their bounds. They are getting right in the middle of patient care and doing harm. And, yes, I fully agree that the witholding of pain meds from people in chronic pain is the equivalent of torture. This issue is just part of a much larger issue concerning American government. Not only is the DEA out of control, but so is your entire government. The news this morning is that the NSA was spying on the parliments in Europe, and there is an uproar brewing in Europe over this. The NSA is out of control. The CIA is not only out of control, but has been out of control for decades. The EPA is out of control. Congress is bought and paid for by big corporations. The average American does not stand a chance against these huge, powerful agencies. The NSA has a computer hacker in solitary confinement. He has been there for over a year and his family is not allowed to see him. He did not kill anyone nor harm anyone, yet he is in solitary confinement. Today, the government grabs people off the street and puts them in prison and solitary confinement and they can stay there for years without a trial. Our, so called, justice system is terrible. In the past we yelled at other countries for doing the very thing we are doing today.
I have no idea where all this is leading or whether it will stop. At the moment, it looks like the whole country is moving in the wrong direction. I just watched Bill Moyers and he was talking about hunger in America. Ever wonder why there are so many obese people? It is not because they eat too much, but because they are not getting the right kind of food. And, the reason for this is because they don’t have the money to buy better food. What little money they have, they are using to buy food high in calories. There are some 50 million Americans having problems getting enough food. A lot of these poor people have jobs, but the jobs pay so little that they cannot afford to buy the more costly, more nutritious food. These big corporations are paying such a low wage that the employees are having to apply for food assitance and medicaid. The American taxpayer is essentially subsidizing the work force of these big corporations that pay such low wages. And, the obese people, which are a direct result of poor nutrition, are going to overwhelm our healthcare system. The folks in Congress are so busy catering to big interests that they don’t take the time, nor even care, what is happening to the country.
There were a number of us pharmacists, a decade ago, including JP, that tried to get across to our fellow pharmacists the urgency of getting together, organizing. We could see the time coming when there would be more pharmacists than jobs. We were already experiencing the tyrannical nature of these big chains. Today, we have the DEA walking all over us and our patients. Again, we have no organization, no power, no way to influence the powers that be in Washington. The chains are walking all over pharmacists and firing them at will. When, or should I ask if ever, will pharmacists see their predicament and realize that the only solution is to ORGANIZE!