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Drug Enforcement Administration…announced today the publication of a statewide Drug Overdose Assessment for Pennsylvania. The report, entitled “Analysis of Drug-Related Overdose Deaths in Pennsylvania, 2014,” is the first comprehensive assessment of deaths caused by drugs for the commonwealth…DEA received information from 62 of the state’s 67 counties on 2,497 deaths caused by the misuse of illicit drugs and diverted pharmaceuticals. Heroin was the most frequently identified drug (more than 51 percent of deaths), and more than 60 percent of the decedents showed the presence of an opioid. Also of note, 12 rural counties were among the 20 counties with the highest rate of drug-related deaths per 100,000 people.

Drug Enforcement Administration…announced...an indictment today against three individuals and two pharmacies for a multimillion-dollar oxycodone distribution scheme…through pharmacies operated in Brooklyn and Queens. Lilian Jakacki, Marcin Jakacki, Robert Cybulski, European Apothecary Inc, Chopin Chemists, MW&W Global Enterprises Inc…charged with illegally distributing more than 500,000 pills of oxycodone...with a street value between $10 million and $15 million.  The defendants are also charged with money laundering and health care fraud…one of the largest illegal diversions of oxycodone…in a New York State pharmacy. Pharmacies also illegally diverted more than 160,000 additional pills by accepting 1,300 fraudulent prescriptions…including prescriptions made out in the names of famous luxury brands such as “Coach” or “Chanel.”

Thousands of Americans in communities across the country discarded more than 350 tons of unused, expired, or unwanted drugs as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Initiative on Saturday, September 26…This past weekend, more than 3,800 federal, state and local counterparts took in more than 702,365 pounds of unused, expired or unwanted drugs at more than 5,000 collection sites....

Nevadans can rid their homes this weekend of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs...10th National Prescription Drug Take-Back, a partnership between the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Nevada Attorney General's Office,is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at four Las Vegas Valley locations:

1. Metro's northwest area command station, 9850 W. Cheyenne Ave.
2. Metro's eastern area command, 6975 W. Windmill Parkway
3. North Las Vegas Police Department's northwest area command station, 3755 W. Washburn Road
4. Anthem Senior Center lobby, 2450 Hampton Road in Henderson

Drug Enforcement Administration…announced Pittsburgh as the pilot city for a comprehensive law enforcement and prevention “360 Strategy” to help cities dealing with a heroin and prescription drug abuse epidemic, and its associated violent crime…“The work of law enforcement to remove the traffickers and the work of our partner agencies doing treatment and prevention in Pittsburgh has already had an impact on the city’s drug problem,”…“The 360 strategy brings together for the first time, the agencies that have dealt with this problem separately, into a comprehensive and sustained effort to not only fight drug traffickers but also to make communities resilient to their return.”…The DEA 360 Strategy comprises a three-fold approach to fighting drug traffickers:

• Provide DEA leadership
• Have a long-lasting impact
• Change attitudes

James Schiffer, RPh, associate at Allegaert Berger & Vogel LLC, discusses some red flags related to prescriptions that can lead to administrative action from the DEA. (video)

Two brothers were arrested today on federal drug trafficking and money laundering charges for allegedly utilizing a bogus pharmacy to obtain and distribute large quantities of prescription narcotics,..Berry Kabov, and Dalibor Kabov, 32, are charged in a 40-count indictment that also alleges they operated Global Compounding Pharmacy in West Los Angeles to illegally import large quantities of anabolic steroids… records show…Kabov brothers purchased massive quantities of drugs, including nearly 100,000 oxycodone pills, as well as tens of thousands of pills of hydrocodone…and hydromorphone...

…law enforcement side of prescription drug abuse—including the rise in pharmacy crime, such as robberies, and second in Pharmacy Today’s “Challenges of Pain” series. The series shows how pharmacists and their patients with legitimate pain needs are affected by issues and efforts around prescription drug abuse.

• Concern for pharmacists’ safety
• Preventing robberies: Start with the basics
• DEA adds to its focus
• GAO report: Questions raised about DEA’s approach
• GAO surveys of DEA registrants
• DEA: Patient access not affected
• Be aware and prepared

When the Drug Enforcement Administration announced last year that pharmacies nationwide could accept and destroy customers’ unwanted prescription drugs, experts in substance abuse called it a significant step toward easing the painkiller and heroin epidemic…the response has been insignificant…about 1 percent of American pharmacies have set up disposal programs, with none of those belonging to the two largest chains, CVS and Walgreens, which have balked at the cost and security risks… at least eight states, including New York, have laws that forbid pharmacies to take back controlled substances…D.E.A. has held 10 so-called take-back days — with the latest on Sept. 26 — these have collected 2,400 tons of pills, limited research suggests that the vast majority are non-controlled medications…

Drug Enforcement Administration…and United States Attorney...that nine individuals have been charged by indictment with participating in a drug trafficking ring that obtained more than 80,000 oxycodone pills by way of fraudulent prescriptions….and distributed the drug in the greater New Haven area. As part of the conspiracy, members of organization obtained the personal identifying information of medical practitioners and used the information to create fraudulent prescriptions…also purchased legitimate prescriptions for oxycodone from individuals…then used individuals, or "runners," to fill the fraudulent prescriptions at pharmacies throughout Connecticut. Once a runner provided his or her personal information to a member of the organization, the runner’s information was kept on file and used to create other fraudulent prescriptions.