Medical Pharmacy
Outcome
DEA revoked Medical Pharmacy's registration in December 2021 after finding it was one of the top statewide purchasers of oxycodone and hydrocodone in Louisiana for multiple years, purchasing six to seven times the national average — uncovered during a broader investigation of distributor Morris & Dickson.
Details
Medical Pharmacy — Top Statewide Opioid Purchaser, DEA Revocation (2015–2021)
Outcome: DEA revoked Medical Pharmacy's DEA registration in a Decision and Order published December 20, 2021, after finding the Kenner, Louisiana pharmacy was one of the top statewide purchasers of oxycodone and hydrocodone in Louisiana for multiple years — purchasing approximately six to seven times the national average — a pattern uncovered during a broader investigation of pharmaceutical distributor Morris & Dickson.
Medical Pharmacy became the focus of a DEA Diversion Control Division investigation based on data acquired during a larger investigation concerning Morris & Dickson, Co., LLC (M&D), a major pharmaceutical distributor in Louisiana. ARCOS (Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System) data showed that Medical Pharmacy's controlled substance purchasing volumes were dramatically elevated compared to state and national norms.
In 2015, Medical Pharmacy was the sixth highest purchaser of hydrocodone in Louisiana at 677,878 dosage units; in 2016 it was the second highest statewide at 677,583 dosage units; in 2017 it was third highest at 615,924 dosage units. For oxycodone, in 2017 the pharmacy ranked fifth highest statewide at 482,770 dosage units. Within its zip code (70791), in 2015 Medical Pharmacy was the highest purchaser of hydrocodone. Investigators characterized the pharmacy's controlled substance purchases as approximately six or seven times the national average.
The DEA found that Medical Pharmacy's continued registration was inconsistent with the public interest. The case demonstrated how outlier purchasing volume data — available in real time through ARCOS — can serve as an early warning indicator of diversion-enabling dispensing patterns when analyzed systematically. The final Decision and Order was published in the Federal Register on December 20, 2021.
Primary Source: Medical Pharmacy; Decision and Order (Fed. Reg. Dec. 20, 2021)
How Crucible Prevents This
Medical Pharmacy's anomalous purchasing volumes — 2nd highest hydrocodone purchaser in all of Louisiana — were only discovered during a distributor-level investigation, not through pharmacy-level controls. Crucible's purchasing volume analytics, benchmarked against regional and national averages, would have flagged this pattern internally and triggered mandatory clinical review before it escalated to a DEA investigation.
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