Neumann's Pharmacy, LLC
Outcome
DEA issued Order to Show Cause September 12, 2023, and revoked registration in January 2025 for repeatedly dispensing dangerous opioid-benzodiazepine combinations to three patients with unresolved diversion red flags; Fifth Circuit vacated and remanded.
Details
Neumann's Pharmacy, LLC — DEA Order to Show Cause and Revocation (2023–2025)
Outcome: DEA issued an Order to Show Cause to Neumann's Pharmacy, LLC of Tallulah, Louisiana on September 12, 2023, and revoked the pharmacy's DEA registration in January 2025, finding that it had repeatedly dispensed dangerous opioid-benzodiazepine combinations to three patients without resolving multiple red flags of diversion. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently vacated the deregistration order and remanded for proceedings under correct legal interpretations.
On September 12, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued an Order to Show Cause to Neumann's Pharmacy, LLC, owned and operated by Laura Neumann, a pharmacist licensed in Louisiana since 1995. The DEA Administrative Law Judge issued a recommended decision to revoke the pharmacy's registration, which DEA Administrator Anne Milgram adopted in January 2025, published in the Federal Register on January 23, 2025.
DEA found that Neumann's Pharmacy repeatedly dispensed dangerous combinations of controlled substances — specifically the opioid and benzodiazepine drug cocktail — to three patients over a period of several years without resolving multiple red flags indicative of abuse and diversion. The opioid-benzodiazepine combination is frequently abused and diverted, and can result in significant sedation, respiratory depression, coma, or death.
The case attracted significant legal attention because the Fifth Circuit of Appeals vacated the DEA's deregistration order. The court held that knowledge-of-invalidity is required for violations under 21 C.F.R. § 1306.04(a), and that the DEA's "usual course of professional practice" standard does not federalize state negligence standards. The case was remanded for proceedings under the correct legal interpretations, creating an ongoing precedent battle over the scope of pharmacist liability for filling controlled substance prescriptions.
Primary Source: Neumann's Pharmacy, LLC; Decision and Order (Fed. Reg. Jan. 23, 2025)
How Crucible Prevents This
DEA found the pharmacy repeatedly dispensed opioid-benzodiazepine combinations — a combination that can cause respiratory depression and death — to three patients over several years without resolving red flags. Crucible's high-risk drug combination alert controls would have flagged these drug cocktails at the point of dispensing, forcing documented clinical justification before the prescription was filled.
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