The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (“DEA’s”) February 13th determination that THC acetate ester (“THCO”) is a schedule I controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) has received a good amount of attention in the cannabis press. That determination, however, was neither a stretch nor a …
The 2008 Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act placed strict limits on online prescribing or the use of telemedicine encounters to prescribe controlled substances. The Ryan Haight Act was enacted to address the legal “grey area” in which prescribers and pharmacies operated via the …
One misnomer that has been repeated over the years has been the reference to the “Drug Enforcement Administration” (“DEA”) as the “Drug Enforcement Agency.” This error has appeared not just in articles and other news publications but in some court documents as well. The DEA …
Hyman, Phelps & McNamara (“HPM”) Director Larry Houck will present “Prescribing Red Flags, Corresponding Responsibility and DEA Investigations: What’s a Pharmacist To Do?” at this year’s American Pharmacists Association’s (“APhA’s”) Annual Meeting in Phoenix, March 24-27. Mr. Houck was a diversion investigator with the Drug …
In October, when pardoning those federally convicted of cannabis possession, President Joe Biden directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and the Attorney General “to initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.” See President Biden Gives …
On November 4th, CDC issued its revised guideline on prescribing opioids for pain as an expansion and update of its 2016 CDC Opioid Prescribing Guideline. Dowell D, Ragan KR, Jones CM, Baldwin GT, Chou R., CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain — …
When you have followed Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”)/Department of Justice (“DOJ”) civil settlements for as long as we have, you cannot help but think that you’ve seen it all. Then something novel comes along. Unlike virtually all DEA/DOJ civil settlements that we are aware of, …
If, as Albert Einstein supposedly quipped, a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what then does a cluttered medicine cabinet signify? More than a mere sign, a cluttered medicine cabinet can be hazardous if it contains unneeded and expired prescription medication susceptible …
On October 6, President Joe Biden issued a brief but sweeping three-step statement towards reforming Federal marijuana law. The president’s first step was a pardon of all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession and a direction to the Attorney General to develop an administrative …
On June 27, 2022, in one of the last opinions issued during its current term, a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court (six justices) issued a noteworthy opinion on criminal liability related to prescribers of controlled substances. This consolidated case has implications not only for …
On June 8, 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia, announced that Sovah Health (“Sovah”), a two-campus health system in Danville and Martinsville in southern Virginia, had entered into a non-prosecution agreement (“NPA”) and $4.36 million civil settlement due in large …
Last week, Attorney General Merrick Garland reiterated the position expressed during his confirmation hearing that enforcement of marijuana cases in states where activities are legal is an inefficient use of Department of Justice (“DOJ”) resources. Responding to Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) during a Senate Appropriations …
Effective May 11, 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) will require all applications and renewals for registration to be submitted electronically. DEA issued a final rule on April 11, 2022, eliminating the “mail-in” option, believing that initial and renewal applications submitted online will be more …
Effective April 1, 2022, California Board of Pharmacy (“BOP”) regulations no longer require reporting every single missing tablet or dosage form. Instead, the amended loss regulations establish thresholds which will reduce the number of reports received by the California BOP, and in our opinion, creates …
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) issued a voluntary practice guideline on opioid prescribing for clinicians treating chronic pain five years ago. (We blogged on the final 2016 guideline here on March 17, 2016). On February 10th, the agency published a comprehensive proposal …
