A major US drug distributor has lost its license after failing to report suspicious orders of painkillers during the opioid crisis.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has revoked the license of Morris & Dickson Co., one of the largest drug distributors in the country, for its failure to report suspicious orders of highly addictive opioids between 2014 and 2018.
The action follows an investigation which revealed that the DEA allowed the company to continue shipping drugs for nearly four years after a judge recommended severe penalties.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a 68-page order that Morris & Dickson failed to accept full responsibility for its past actions, which included shipping 12,000 unusually large orders of opioids to pharmacies and hospitals.
During this time, the company filed just three suspicious order reports with the DEA.
Milgram specifically cited the testimony of then-president Paul Dickson Sr. in 2019 that the company’s compliance program was “dang good” and he didn’t think a “single person has gotten hurt by (their) drugs.”
“Those statements from the president of a family-owned and operated company so strongly miss the point of the requirements of a DEA registrant,” she wrote.
“Its acceptance of responsibility did not prove that it or its principals understand the full extent of their wrongdoing ... and the potential harm it caused."
The company has 90 days to negotiate a settlement before the order takes effect.
Morris & Dickson, based in Louisiana, is the fourth-largest wholesale drug distributor in the US, serving pharmacies and hospitals in 29 states.
The company has expressed hope for a settlement and stated its efforts to improve compliance systems.
In a statement, the company said it has invested millions of dollars over the past few years to revamp its compliance systems.
“Morris & Dickson is grateful to the DEA administrator for delaying the effective date of the order to allow time to settle these old issues,” it said.
“We remain confident we can achieve an outcome that safeguards the supply chain for all of our healthcare partners and the communities they serve.”
While other drug distributors have settled similar violations with hefty fines, Morris & Dickson chose to challenge the accusations in the DEA's administrative court.
The delay in enforcement action by the DEA under the current and previous administrations drew criticism.
Morris & Dickson attempted to reopen the proceedings, claiming to have implemented an improved compliance program with the help of a former DEA consultant.
The consultant, who had worked with the DEA's Office of Diversion Control, retired from the agency and subsequently worked as a consultant for companies he had previously regulated, including Morris & Dickson.
