Baldwin Pattie Drug Store, LLC
Outcome
A federal court consent decree entered January 31, 2024, permanently prohibited Baldwin Pattie Drug Store from dispensing controlled substances and required owner Matthew Krawczak to surrender his DEA registration after investigators found the pharmacy knowingly stocked and dispensed "Yellow Norcos" sought by drug abusers and discovered thousands of unaccounted-for opioids on audit.
Details
Baldwin Pattie Drug Store, LLC — "Yellow Norcos" / Intentional Diversion / Consent Decree (2024)
Outcome: Chief Judge Jarbou entered a consent decree on January 31, 2024, permanently prohibiting Baldwin Pattie Drug Store from dispensing controlled substances, requiring the pharmacy to surrender its DEA registration, and barring owner Matthew Krawczak from serving as pharmacist-in-charge for 10 years — resolving allegations that the pharmacy knowingly stocked and dispensed a brand of hydrocodone associated with drug abuse.
Baldwin Pattie Drug Store, LLC (dba Pattie Drug of Baldwin) operated at 868 Michigan Avenue, Baldwin, Michigan 49304 in Lake County — a small rural northern Michigan community. The pharmacy was operated by owner and pharmacist Matthew Krawczak. The DOJ's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, alleged that Krawczak and the pharmacy violated the Controlled Substances Act by deliberately stocking a particular brand of hydrocodone/acetaminophen pills — commonly called "Yellow Norcos" — that were widely recognized in the community as preferred by people seeking drugs for non-medical purposes. The complaint alleged the defendants knew they were supplying drug abusers and maintained the supply as a business practice.
When DEA investigators conducted an inspection and audit, they found thousands of opioid tablets — primarily hydrocodone — that could not be accounted for in the pharmacy's records. The defendants also failed to maintain accurate controlled substance dispensing logs and did not meet biennial inventory requirements.
The consent decree's terms were among the most severe available under civil enforcement: the pharmacy was permanently barred from dispensing any controlled substances, was required to surrender its DEA Schedule II–V registration, and the civil penalty was set between $10,000 and $30,000 based on stated inability to pay a larger amount. Krawczak was further prohibited from serving as pharmacist-in-charge at any DEA-registered pharmacy for 10 years. No criminal charges were publicly announced alongside this action.
Primary Source: Federal Court Orders Baldwin Pharmacy to Stop Dispensing Controlled Substances | DOJ
How Crucible Prevents This
The pharmacy's alleged practice of stocking a specific brand of hydrocodone known for its abuse potential and favored by drug-seeking customers represents intentional diversion facilitation — a violation that no accidental recordkeeping gap can explain. Crucible's DECISIONS log enforces documented rationale for high-risk procurement decisions; a requirement to log the business justification for stocking abuse-prone formulations would surface this pattern before the DEA does. The thousands of unaccounted-for opioids compound the intentional-stocking allegation into a systemic recordkeeping failure.
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