www.journalistsresource.org/studies/society/drug-policy/methamphetamine-crystal-meth-drugs

Amid the United States’ ongoing opioid crisis, government agencies are documenting the rise of another highly addictive drug: methamphetamine.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that from 2010 to 2014, the number of drug overdose deaths involving methamphetamine more than doubled, jumping from around 1,400 to nearly 4,000 (opioid-related overdose deaths, at 28,647 in 2014, have overshadowed these numbers).

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment suggests that http://templatelab.com/national-drug-threat-assessment-2017/ is high in the U.S., with many states reporting greater availability since 2013.

The DEA substantiated these reports using purity (the amount of methamphetamine present compared to other substances), potency (how much of the drug is needed to have an effect) and price data. The price of methamphetamine per gram has decreased (it stood at around $58 in September 2016) as its purity has increased.

Nearly 30 percent of agencies responding to the DEA’s 2017 National Drug Threat Survey said that methamphetamine was the greatest drug threat in their areas. Thirty-six percent reported it is the drug that most contributes to violent crime.

In light of these trends, Journalist’s Resource collected recent research and resources to answer questions reporters new to the topic might have.

What is methamphetamine?

Methamphetamine is an addictive drug classified by the DEA as a Schedule II stimulant. It affects the central nervous system, stimulating dopamine receptors in the brain and producing euphoric effects. It can be smoked, snorted, injected or taken by mouth. One form of the drug is crystal methamphetamine, which resembles clear or bluish glass shards. Methamphetamine and crystal methamphetamine are commonly called by slang names including ice, crystal, meth, speed, crank and chalk.

How is it made?

Methamphetamine is a synthetic drug, which means it’s made in a lab, not grown in a field like marijuana or opium poppies. Producing meth thus depends on the availability of the ingredients needed to create it, also called precursors, including ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenyl-2-proponone (P2P). These first two ingredients might ring a bell from trips to the pharmacy. Pseudophedrine is a decongestant used to alleviate cold and allergy symptoms. Ephedrine was commonly used in weight-loss products. Dietary ephedrine products were banned by the FDA in 2004, but the drug is available over the counter for some conditions, like asthma. P2P is a schedule II controlled substance not commonly available in consumer products. The household availability of some meth precursors, though, fostered small, domestic laboratory operations in the early 2000s.

The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act (CMEA), signed into law in 2006, attempted to curtail these efforts by regulating the sale of over-the-counter ingredients, including ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine. Some producers skirt these regulations, martialing teams of people to obtain legal quantities of these ingredients (sometimes repeatedly, through the use of false identification documents), which together net sufficient quantities for production. This practice is often referred to as “smurfing.” (The term, a nod to the cartoon characters, has been used at least since the 1980s in the context of money laundering to describe a process through which droves of people break up larger transactions into smaller ones so as to avoid suspicion.)

These restrictions might also drive manufacturers to synthesize meth with other ingredients. Much of the methamphetamine found in the U.S. today is produced in Mexico using phenyl-2-proponone and trafficked across the border, according to the DEA’s report. This reflects a broader decline of domestic production of methamphetamine since the passage of CMEA and an increase in international production. Domestically, however, conversion laboratories are popping up, particularly in California. These labs transform smuggled methamphetamine into a saleable product.

What are some of the effects of the resurgence of methamphetamine?

Methamphetamine has been linked to a number of health risks, including hepatitis C infection, stroke, psychosis and other forms of psychological distress. A longitudinal study of 278 people who were dependent on methamphetamine but not schizophrenic or manic, published in Addiction in 2014, found that violent behavior increased after subjects used methamphetamine. Methamphetamine users also face a higher risk of death than people who use other drugs, including cannabis, cocaine and alcohol.

A study published in the American Journal on Addictions in 2014 suggests that certain social outcomes, including homelessness, drug dealing, being a victim of violence and prostitution are associated with crystal methamphetamine use.

Research exploring connections between methamphetamine use and criminal behavior indicates that meth users “have more extensive criminal records and are more likely than other drug users to commit property crimes.” Kentucky Department of Corrections data indicates that the percentage of offenders who used methamphetamine in the 12 months before their incarceration has increased sharply over the past five years. In 2012, 23.5 percent of offenders in the state reported using illicit methamphetamine in the 12 months before their incarceration; by 2017, this figure was 43.9 percent.

Are there treatments for methamphetamine addiction?

A number of treatments exist for methamphetamine addiction, including cognitive behavioral therapy and other drug counseling and addiction support services. Unlike treatment for opioid misuse, there aren’t medications that specifically block the effects of or curb cravings for the drug.

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This will surprise absolutely no one, but I don’t have great deal of love or respect for the Drug Enforcement Agency. Never have, and in all likelihood, never will. On Tuesday, the acting head of the DEA (and not sparkly vampire) Robert Patterson was testifying at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the topic of “Challenges and Solutions in the Opioid Abuse Crisis.” What followed was best described as an “old-fashioned Alabama ass-whuppin'” by some of the elected representatives, who seriously could not believe the words tumbling from Patterson’s stupid mouth.

As summarized by Marijuana Movement, it began with Tennessee Democratic representative Steve Cohen asking why cannabis is still a Schedule I drug, on par with such drugs as heroin. Patterson responded, with a straight face, “The reason why it remains in Schedule I is the science.”

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Georgia) drew forth the most outrageous statement from Patterson when he asked out of the 64,000 drug-related overdose deaths in 2016, how many were opioid-related. (44,000.) When he asked about cannabis-related overdose deaths, Patterson responded that while there had not been any “official” deaths of that kind recorded in 2016, he nevertheless was “aware of a few deaths from marijuana.”

“You are aware of a few deaths from marijuana?” Johnson asked. At that point, Patterson said that he didn’t have materials in front of him to reference, but that he believed these deaths were caused by “adulterated” cannabis.

It pretty much went off the rails when Patterson was later questioned about numerous studies showing the medical benefits of cannabis to treat medical conditions, including those where opioids are frequently prescribed, or studies showing that states with regulated cannabis programs had a decrease in opioid prescriptions. Patterson hadn’t read any of them, wasn’t familiar with them, nor could he site any studies showing that cannabis led to other illicit dangerous drug use.

The DEA’s Robert Patterson is the worst type of mouth breathing moron—one that embraces his willful ignorance, and makes no effort to expand his small-minded and narrow worldview. Which is morally vile when you consider that by just reading a few fucking studies, he could perhaps help enact policies that could literally save tens of thousands of lives.

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Make the most of upcoming opportunities to engage members of Congress while they are back home. Upcoming in-district work periods are currently scheduled for May 25-June 4, June 29- July 9, and July 27-Sept. 3. If you are interested in engaging with a member during one of these periods call their local/district office to make an appt.

You claim that they ignore your petitions, your letters, your emails, your faxes…  you call them for an appointment… you may end up with 10-15 minute  ONE TO ONE time with your Federal representative

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www.nationalpainreport.com/want-to-talk-with-the-fda-heres-your-chance-8836221.html

The National Pain Report has done a number of stories recently that have received numerous comments from people complaining about the federal (and in some cases their state) government. The reaction is that recent policies that have been adopted do not have the patient in mind.

This story, published on April 25, set off a firestorm of commentary from chronic patients and providers.

We’ve been talking with Terri Lewis Ph.D. about trying to create a survey from that story that could capture objective and subjective data from you.

She’s done just that, with the goal of having your input inform the FDA as the agency determines where to place the focus on alternatives and new drug development. They are holding a hearing on July 9.

Take the survey here.

The survey will be live until June 17^th to give Dr. Lewis time to tabulate and submit to the FDA by the June 25^th deadline.

FDA is challenged with determining how to balance the need to ensure continued access to persons who rely on opioids for continuous pain relief while addressing the ongoing concerns about safe use, abuse and misuse.  Many of you will not be able to attend this so we are taking your voices to Washington DC with us.  You can register to attend or view this hearing.

For Lewis, this survey will not only help let the FDA know what chronic pain patients, their loved ones and their providers are experiencing in 2018, but also will help her develop some data about individual states. Her initial focus is on the July 9^th hearing.

“This survey is designed to create some patient focused due diligence on chronic pain that our government simply needs to see,” she said.

The National Pain Report is happy to partner in this effort and will share some of the objective results in the coming weeks as people begin to fill out the survey.

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Reconstruction of what politician looked like before death.

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https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2018-05-09/us-judge-blocks-dea-from-suspending-drug-distributor-over-opioid-sales

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we all know that the opiate conversion tables are CRUDE ESTIMATES AT BEST… 

We all know that defective CYP-450 opiate enzyme metabolism can greatly effect the therapeutic dose for the pt.

We all know that:

Here is four quotes from the CDC opiates guidelines:

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/rr/rr6501e1.htm

“The guideline is intended to ensure that clinicians and patients consider safer and more effective treatment, improve patient outcomes such as reduced pain and improved function.”

“Clinicians should consider the circumstances and unique needs of each patient when providing care.”

“Clinical decision making should be based on a relationship between the clinician and patient, and an understanding of the patient’s clinical situation, functioning, and life context.”

“This guideline provides recommendations for primary care clinicians who are prescribing opioids for chronic pain outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care.”

We all know that subjective disease are covered under The Americans with Disability Act and Civil Rights Act and discriminating against person in their protect class is consider a civil right violation.

We all know that the majority of the studies that the CDC used to come to the opiate dosing guidelines were rated “3′ or “4”… where “1” = good/excellent, “4” = poor/crap.

We all know that dosing for all disease states – except for subjective diseases – is based on adequate therapies that will return the diagnostic lab values to as close to acceptable values as clinically possible without inducing other adverse side effects.  With subjective disease the only therapeutic outcomes can be based on input from the pt.

We all know that healthcare professionals will not use – or depend upon – testing equipment or any means of testing that will produce inconsistent results.

We all know that <1% of chronic pain pts treated with opiates will become addicted.

It would appear by this letter that the DOL has determined that does above 90 MME/day is a “concerning level of medication” and that will be working on “… curtailing (all) opiate usage …”

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https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/troubleshooters/Hundreds-of-Prescription-Errors-Reported-in-Connecticut-Each-Year-481948561.html

When it comes to prescription drugs, an error at the pharmacy can put a patient’s health at risk.

The Troubleshooters have uncovered hundreds of prescription error complaints filed with the Department of Consumer Protection over the last two years. Some mistakes were so severe that the patients received the wrong drug or an incorrect dose.

Lauren Kagan, of Avon, was prescribed a medication that was supposed to help calm her nerves during a medical procedure, but she says what she received from the pharmacy put her life in danger.

“A trip to the ER would have been definite, for sure,” Kagan said. “But it was not definite that I would have survived.”

Kagan was scheduled to have an MRI, but she can become claustrophobic. She was nervous about getting body scans in such a confined space, so she says her doctor prescribed an anti-anxiety medicine. The recommendation was to take one to two of the pills. Shortly after she had the MRI, Kagan says the medical staffers became concerned about why she was suddenly becoming so groggy and confused.

“They were just curious to know how many of the pills I had ended up taking,” Kagan said.

She said she took the minimum dose — one pill. That decision may have saved her life.

“The doctor had meant for it to be a quarter of a milligram pill, but the pharmacist prescribed a two-milligram dosage,” Kagan said.

Kagan says her husband had to keep her from falling asleep. Taking the recommended two pills would’ve been sixteen times stronger than the dosage she was supposed to be getting.

“I feel like there should be no such thing as a mistake with prescriptions because life or death is on the line,” she said.

Between 200 and 300 prescription error complaints are filed with the Department of Consumer Protection per year, according to state data obtained by the Troubleshooters. In cases where people complained about getting the wrong medications, DCP data shows that nearly 78 percent of complaints were found to be valid. These patients were indeed given an incorrect prescription.

“It could be really simple but it could also be something very severe,” said Lora Rae Anderson, Director of Communications for the Department of Consumer Protection.

Searching through two years of data from the Drug Control Division of DCP, the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters identified several complaints including:

• A woman in Enfield who had foot surgery who said she was prescribed 10-milligram opioid pills for pain, but received 80-milligram pills instead.
• A West Hartford patient who was supposed to get a prescription for an over-active thyroid, but said she received a medication for Alzheimer’s.
• An elderly man in New Haven who said he was prescribed what was supposed to be an anti-depressant but found out that, for two weeks, he was really taking a blood thinner.
• A man in Hartford who said he was prescribed an antibiotic but ended up with medication to treat seizures.

“If you’re talking about 50 milligram instead of 15 in say, an infant, that can be really very serious,” Anderson said.

In most cases, when a prescription error complaint is substantiated, the pharmacist will pay a civil penalty to the state to avoid potentially having his or her license revoked. Those fines could be hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

“If there is a routine problem, if the issue is really severe, the long and short is that the fine gets bigger and their license could be at stake,” Anderson said.

Since her medication scare, Kagan said she has learned to follow up by taking a number of steps, including to report a problem not just to the pharmacy, but also to DCP. She said she now double-checks prescriptions – both the labels and the pills.

“We take for granted what’s written on the label because we assume that’s what the doctor has wanted for us,” Kagan said.

The Department of Consumer Protection offers tips to protect yourself against medication errors:

1. Open the bag at the counter. Check to be sure that you’ve been given is what you’ve actually been prescribed.
2. Don’t sign too quickly. The agreement you sign acknowledges that you’ve gotten the information you need. Don’t sign it without checking first.
3. Read the label carefully. Read every word. Check the name of the drug and directions for use. If the directions are unclear, ask the pharmacist to explain them. If the name on the label isn’t the name of your doctor, notify the pharmacist.
4. Look at the drug itself. If it’s a refill, does it look the same as the previous prescription? Is it the same shape and color? If not, ask the pharmacist.
5. Ask for printed information sheets. Ask the pharmacist if you need any additional counseling on the medication.

If you have issues with your prescription, complaints can be sent to DCP.DrugControl@ct.gov.

A few days ago, I made this post What is more important… getting your prescription(s) QUICKLY… or… CORRECTLY ?    which was a CVS memo instructing their pharmacists to fill prescriptions when their computer system was “down/off line”

The various state pharmacy practice acts were created in a era when all pharmacies were owner/operator… in fact many of the earliest days of pharmacy, the local physician also served as the local pharmacist.

The “chain pharmacy” concept mostly evolved starting in the early 20th century. When I graduated from Butler University in 1970 there was more independent pharmacies in Indianapolis/Marion county than the ENTIRE STATE of Indiana has today.  Back then there was a chain “Hooks Drugs” that was the TENTH LARGEST chain pharmacy in the country – with 243 stores – all WITHIN the state of Indiana, and there was about 75% of all pharmacies – in the country – were independents.

Today, abt 65% -75% of all community pharmacies are designated at “chain pharmacies” and there is two chains (CVS & Walgreens) have abt 10,000 chain store outlets – EACH.. with a total of community pharmacies being in the 65,000 area.

Several years ago Kevin McCoy published in the USA TODAY  Chains’ ties run deep on pharmacy boards    showing that the vast majority of the Boards of Pharmacies are dominated by chain pharmacy employees.

When the various state practice acts were law, the typical pharmacy was owned/operated by a pharmacist and thus the law focused on a  “Pharmacist in Charge”… the person who was responsible to the board of pharmacy ( BOP) for the legal operation of the pharmacy. 

Today, we have a situation where the ownership of the pharmacy – a minority part of the time – is the pharmacist in charge (PIC)… since the vast majority of pharmacy ownership is by a major publicly held corporation.

Today, the PIC has no say over the operation of the Rx dept… which he/she has the legal responsibility for its operation.  Here is an example in Connecticut where the BOP are going to fine or suspend a Pharmacist for a medication error… which the vast majority of time can be traced back to a “failure of the system” within the Rx dept work environment.

When a entity (BOP) that is in charge of protecting the public’s health and safety and looks to blame individuals within that system..when it is common knowledge that the design of the system itself is the real underlying cause.. suggests that the BOP’s loyalty may be to some entity other than the general public ?

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discussing the FDA, sex being a CPP, state Law Acts concerning opiates and any call-in questions you have for Dr. Kline.

Questions? (415) 915-2291.
Please tune in at www.cawnation.com.
Click on “Listen” or listen and chat live with the audience on our YouTube Channel:
Conspiracies Against Wellness Live Stream.

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www.dailycaller.com/2018/05/07/dea-addicts-dealers-prescribe-drugs-purdue/

Admitted drug addicts and dealers were among the hundreds of thousands of people and businesses the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) licensed to manufacture, distribute or prescribe pharmaceuticals over the past 12 years, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation has found. The agency stripped only 240 licenses for wrong-doing over the same period.

The DEA’s Office of Diversion Control, which is responsible for issuing and revoking the permits, is, by law, fully funded by the licenses’ application fees. More than 1.7 million individuals and organizations held licenses as of March 2018 — an increase of more than 510,000 since August 2006, the earliest publicly available data, TheDCNF’s review found.

“The office … has not been very aggressive in hunting down doctors [who] are prescribing in inappropriate ways,” said Carnegie Mellon University Professor Jonathan Caulkins, who’s worked extensively in drug policy. “The DEA does not aggressively try to find corrupt or incompetent health care providers in the health care system.”

Effective enforcement is especially important given the growing opioid epidemic, Caulkins added. More than 200,000 Americans died from prescription drug overdoses between 1999 and 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most heroin users begin their addiction with such prescriptions, studies have shown.

“It is not really believable from my perspective that if they had proper enforcement … that that number [of revocations] would be so low,” Public Citizen’s Health Research Group Founder and Senior Adviser Sidney Wolfe told TheDCNF. “We don’t have adequate, serious law enforcement that musters all of the evidence they have and then acts appropriately. If we did, that number would be in the thousands.”

Most states maintain databases with information about how prescription drugs are dispensed, Wolfe also noted.

“I would bet DEA itself does not collect the data from these states that could be useful in deciding if it’s safe to re-register someone,” Wolfe added. “It’s poor law enforcement. These are crucial, life-challenging things that are going on.”

Meanwhile, the DEA gave out licenses to people who admitted to having been addicted to or dealt drugs in the past.

One dentist, for example, admitted to helping “an outlaw motorcycle gang” manufacture methamphetamine in the early 2000s, which resulted in two years of jail time, a DEA document said. He’d previously been caught with meth several times and admitted to “a history of substance abuse with alcohol, marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine.”

The DEA gave him a license to prescribe certain drugs in September 2013.

A doctor was caught distributing cocaine in 1981 but wasn’t prosecuted because he cooperated with authorities, another DEA document shows. He was arrested again in 2001 with cocaine and two prescription drugs — an opioid and a minor tranquilizer — and pleaded guilty to related charges in 2003.

The DEA gave him a license to prescribe drugs in February 2009.

“The number of doctors themselves [who] have opioid problems is probably higher than the number of [revocations],” Wolfe told TheDCNF. “If you have an opioid addiction, the last thing you should be doing is prescribing opioids.”

However, “doctors have a relatively high risk of addiction” and there is rehabilitation specifically designed for physicians, Caulkins said.

Also, 72 percent “of all substances identified in physician arrests since 2003 were opioids,” according to a recent Detox.net study that analyzed DEA data.

Government watchdogs have also repeatedly criticized the DEA’s Office of Diversion Control.

Even when the DEA revokes a license or denies an application or renewal, the decision-making process can be lengthy, the Department of Justice’s inspector general (IG) found in 2014. It took the agency an average of nearly two years to make a final decisions on cases in 2009, though that decreased to just one year by 2012.

“Such delays can create risks to public health and safety by allowing noncompliant registrants to operate their business or practice while the registrant action is being adjudicated,” the IG wrote. For example, a doctor can keep writing prescriptions — even after the DEA proposed revoking his license — until a ruling is made.

Just one doctor prescribing medications in an abusive manner could harm hundreds of patients, according to Wolfe.

Just one percent of special agents’ investigative time in 2005 was spent on drug diversion probes, according to a 2006 IG report. Intelligence analysts, likewise spent just over five percent of their time on such investigations that same year.

The report cited a 2004 survey that found 2.4 million people “used prescription pain relievers non-medically for the first time within the past 12 months. This number was the largest number of new users for any type of illicitly used drug during that same time period.”

Additionally, the number of people who admitted to abusing prescription drugs between 1992 and 2003 nearly doubled, according to another study the IG cited.

Still, the DEA provided little instruction in the way of investigating prescription drug trafficking.

“DEA special agents have received minimal diversion control training,” the report stated. At the time of the report, only 98 special agents had taken a week-long course, while the rest had only received a two-hour session during basic training that consisted of a video from 1996.

The video was produced the same year OxyContin was made publicly available, which critics have widely blamed for initiating the opioid epidemic. The prescription painkiller’s manufacturer — Sackler Family owned Purdue Pharma — launched an aggressive and deceptive marketing campaign promoting the drug.

In fact, company representatives downplayed OxyContin’s addictiveness and consequently paid nearly $635 million in 2007 — just one year after the IG report was published — Purdue and three top executive admitted in court.

Doctors can spend years in jail if they’re caught overprescribing opioid medications, but the Purdue executives only had to pay a fine, Wolfe pointed out.

Purdue, which is now facing hundreds of lawsuits around the U.S., raked in $35 billion in OxyContin sales between the time of its release and 2015, helping The Sacklers become one of the nation’s wealthiest families with a $13 billion net worth, according to Forbes.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a congressional watchdog, also found problems with the diversion office — specifically regarding its ability to monitor individuals with licenses to prescribe drugs.

More than 760 people of the then-1.4 million registered with the DEA “were potentially ineligible” for licenses because the Social Security Administration reported them as dead, they did not have state-level permission to prescribe or distribute controlled substances or “were incarcerated for felony offenses related to controlled substances,” the 2016 GAO report stated.

Also, nearly 700 Social Security numbers in the DEA’s database were registered to multiple names or variations of names, “which can be a risk indicator of potential fraud,” the report showed.

Another nearly 42,000 entries in the DEA’s database listed an employer identification number rather than a Social Security number, the GAO found, which makes it more difficult to conduct background checks and prevent fraudulent identities.

In fact, one person convicted of defrauding Medicare in June 2013 was still actively registered with the DEA to dole out drugs as of January 2016, the GAO pointed out. The drug agency had no notes about the crime in its system.

Additionally, the DEA doesn’t conduct criminal background checks after an individual receives their license unless the crime is either self-reported or if the state of practice informs the agency, according to the GAO report.

Although the DEA’s diversion control office is supposed to be fully funded through the fees people pay to acquire the drug licenses, it’s faced periods of especially tight budgets, according to a 2008 IG report.

“I do think it is odd that the office has to be funded out of licensee fees,” Caulkins told TheDCNF. “It should be funded at whatever level it takes to get the job done. Perhaps that is less than the license fee revenue. Perhaps it is more.”

“It seems quite arbitrary to imagine that license fee revenue would end up magically providing just the right level of funding,” he continued. “But DEA would have to revoke an awful lot of licenses to seriously hurt that revenue stream (and it could presumably increase the size of the license fee by one percent to offset the losses).”

The DEA, for example, raised registration fees for the first time in 10 years in October 2003 in part to respond “to the threat of OxyContin abuse,” according to the IG report.

The DEA expected to rake in $238 million in 2006 but fell short by $75 million — or about one-third of the agency’s projection — the IG found. In 2007, the DEA settled a lawsuit that increased the amount the agency had to pay diversion investigators for overtime, which put additional financial restrictions on the diversion control office.

Consequently, the diversion office was forced to tighten its purse strings, according to the IG report.

“We found that overtime, travel and equipment purchases had been limited during the period of our review” as a result of the lawsuit and the revenue shortfalls, the report stated.

The DEA collected $235 million in fees in 2009, which increased by about 40 percent — or $93 million — by 2013, according to a 2015 GAO report. The number of registrants, meanwhile, increased by roughly 15 percent over the same period, TheDCNF’s review found.

The DEA’s role and effectiveness in fighting the opioid epidemic has also recently come under fire.

One West Virginia county with a population of less than 3,000 was flooded with nearly 21 million opioid pills from two pharmaceutical wholesalers over roughly a 10-year period, a House Committee on Energy and Commerce investigation found. Republicans and Democrats alike scrutinized the DEA for failing to stop the pill dumping.

Lawmakers have also grilled the DEA for its lack of cooperation in the committee’s investigation, and the agency has faced subpoena threats for slow-walking the release of related documents.

Additionally, pharmaceutical companies hired high-ranking DEA officials after leaving the agency, a joint Washington Post and “60 Minutes” investigation found. The agency also began to limit how often it immediately suspended pharmaceutical distributors that were shipping suspiciously large volumes of pills.

The DEA ultimately didn’t oppose a 2016 bill pharmaceutical industry-backed members of Congress sponsored and co-sponsored that essentially eliminated the agency’s ability to use such suspensions, the investigation found. The legislation consequently passed with unanimous consent, and then-President Barack Obama signed it without question.

Both Caulkins and Wolfe noted the power pharmaceutical companies hold in forming policy and legislation, which has helped bind the DEA.

“There’s enormous influence in this industry,” Wolfe told TheDCNF.

The DEA did not respond to requests for comment.

Andrew Kerr and Grace Carr contributed to this report.

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