Sunday, February 22, 2015

Jesse A. Lipnick: DEA crackdown causing legitimate pain patients to suffer By Jesse A. Lipnick Special to The Sun Published: Saturday, February 21, 2015 at 6:01 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, February 19, 2015 at 7:26 p.m.

The state of Florida recently endured the "pill mill crisis," a proliferation of narcotic medication that resulted in the reported overdose deaths in Florida of approximately 7 people per day.
This crisis was the result of drug dealers paying people to pose as patients in pain while presenting to Florida physicians. Physicians and pharmacies were either duped or knowingly participated until 2011, when the Florida Legislature dealt with the crisis by passing legislation to regulate prescriptions of narcotic medications.
Simultaneous with the Florida legislative action, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigated, fined and suspended pharmacies that were dispensing allegedly inappropriate prescriptions. The DEA investigation resulted in million-dollar settlements with national pharmaceutical companies with operations in Florida. more

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