WASHINGTON, DC - Bipartisan Energy and Commerce Committee leaders today held a press conference to provide an update on their ongoing investigation into alleged pill dumping in the state of West Virginia. The leaders spoke to continued stonewalling by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), despite numerous requests for basic information.
Chairman Walden flips through DEA’s heavily redacted response to the committee leaders.
“We worked with the DEA at every turn, believing that we could be partners in this effort. We should be partners in this effort. But to our surprise and dismay, DEA has all but stonewalled our investigation," said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR). “…We are done waiting for their cooperation."
#SubOversight Chairman Gregg Harper (R-MS) stressed that while the bipartisan investigation’s focus is on West Virginia, it is a nationwide problem. He added, “This is just not acceptable. …We urge the DEA to stop playing games."
The original purpose of the committee’s probe of DEA was to gain a better understanding of their key systems. But after less than forthcoming responses, #SubOversight Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO) said, “the DEA simply refuses to cooperate."
Talking about the opioid crisis’ impact in West Virginia, Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) shared some of the committee’s findings and local statistics, including the fact that West Virginia is ranked the number one state in the country for overdoses. “It’s just ravaging West Virginia," said Rep. McKinley.
Background:
May 2017
The committee opened an investigation into the distribution of prescription opioids by wholesale drug distributors, with a specific focus on distribution practices in West Virginia, and enforcement practices by the DEA that exacerbated the opioid epidemic.
Bipartisan committee leaders sent letters to the top drug distributors (AmerisourceBergen Corporation, CardinalHealth, and McKesson Corporation) and the DEA in May 2017, regarding reports of extremely high amounts of opioids being distributed in the state. Cited in the letters was the example of Kermit, West Virginia, population 400, receiving nearly 9 million hydrocodone pills in a two-year period.
September 2017
Bipartisan committee leaders probed a fourth distributor, Miami-Luken.
October 2017
The committee sent a follow up letter to the DEA.
Additionally, during a full committee hearing on federal efforts to combat the opioid crisis, Chairman Walden grilled the DEA on their lack of cooperation or responsiveness to the committee’s ongoing investigation.
January 2018
Bipartisan committee leaders sent a follow up letter to Miami-Luken and probed a fifth distributor, H.D. Smith.
Through its ongoing investigation, the committee revealed that over a ten-year period, drug companies shipped 20.8 million pain pills to two pharmacies four blocks apart in Williamson, WV- a town of roughly 3,000 people.
Months after the committee began raising questions about monitoring systems the DEA had in place to detect the potential oversupplying of opioids nationwide, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that “a surge" of DEA agents will examine pharmacies and prescribers who appear to be providing or prescribing unusually large amounts of opioids.
