DEA under fire in painkiller diversion case

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) must provide additional evidence to a federal court or its attempt to shut down a pharmaceutical distribution centre run by Cardinal Health could be overturned.

The DEA issued orders earlier this month to shut down the Cardinal facility in Lakeland, Florida, and suspend sales of controlled painkillers from two pharmacies operated by the CVS chain in the Orlando area.

The agency said took the action in light of extremely high levels of painkillers such as oxycodone being shipped to the two pharmacies. The situation was "an imminent danger to the public safety," according to the DEA, which also said that Cardinal Health was not taking sufficient care to ensure that the product being shipped was not being diverted into illegal channels.

Federal judge Reggie Walton said earlier this week that he would give the DEA until February 24 to provide evidence that its bid to close the distribution facility - which remains on hold - was justified.

According to the DEA the two CVS pharmacies collectively ordered three million oxycodone dosage units in 2011, when the national average was just 69,000 per pharmacy.

The agency has previously suspended approval for distribution of controlled substances including hydrocodone from a Cardinal Health facility in Auburn, Washington, after it became concerned about the volume of material being shipped.

In this case, a pharmacy receiving a large proportion of the medicines was suspected of offering them illegally for sale over the Internet.

The upshot was that Cardinal Health was fined $34m and had to sign an agreement that it would maintain a compliance programme to detect and prevent" drug diversion.