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ORLANDO, Fla. -- The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has suspended two Orlando-area-based CVS pharmacies from selling controlled substances such as oxycodone, agency officials said Monday.
It is the first time stores in a national pharmacy chain are the targets of suspension orders used to combat Florida's prescription drug abuse problem, said Mark Trouville, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's Miami field office.
The DEA also issued a suspension order against a Lakeland-based wholesale drug distributor. But its owner, Cardinal Health, late last week successfully persuaded a judge to halt the DEA's suspension efforts until a hearing is held next week in Washington.
The DEA claims that the two Sanford, Fla.-based pharmacies dispensed such controlled drugs as oxycodone far in excess of legitimate needs. The average pharmacy orders 69,000 oxycodone dosage units a year but the two pharmacies together were ordering 2 million dosage units, DEA officials said.
"These pharmacies knew or should have known that a large number of these prescriptions were not issued for legitimate medical purposes," Trouville said at a news conference in suburban Orlando.
The pharmacies will still be able to sell drugs that aren't controlled substances while the orders are enforced.
A CVS spokesman said the company is unwavering in its compliance with federal and state laws, and it was cooperating with the DEA.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/06/2628168/2-fla-cvs-stores-stopped-from.html#storylink=cpy
It is the first time stores in a national pharmacy chain are the targets of suspension orders used to combat Florida's prescription drug abuse problem, said Mark Trouville, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's Miami field office.
The DEA also issued a suspension order against a Lakeland-based wholesale drug distributor. But its owner, Cardinal Health, late last week successfully persuaded a judge to halt the DEA's suspension efforts until a hearing is held next week in Washington.
The DEA claims that the two Sanford, Fla.-based pharmacies dispensed such controlled drugs as oxycodone far in excess of legitimate needs. The average pharmacy orders 69,000 oxycodone dosage units a year but the two pharmacies together were ordering 2 million dosage units, DEA officials said.
"These pharmacies knew or should have known that a large number of these prescriptions were not issued for legitimate medical purposes," Trouville said at a news conference in suburban Orlando.
The pharmacies will still be able to sell drugs that aren't controlled substances while the orders are enforced.
A CVS spokesman said the company is unwavering in its compliance with federal and state laws, and it was cooperating with the DEA.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/06/2628168/2-fla-cvs-stores-stopped-from.html#storylink=cpy