DOJ's Consumer Protection Branch Continues Civil Enforcement Against Pharmacies, Pharmacists for Opioid Dispensing

The U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Consumer Protection Branch continues to use its joint civil and criminal authority under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to pursue pharmacies and pharmacists implicated in the opioid epidemic. Pharmacies and pharmacists will remain in the DOJ's crosshairs, and the risks of over-dispensing of opioids goes beyond even criminal prosecution, to include permanent civil remedies that can be devastating to the career of a pharmacist. Pharmacists and pharmacies would do well to evaluate and strengthen compliance measures around the dispensing of opioid medications, and to ensure that they know the providers they work with and monitor prescribing patterns for troubling trends.