Drogueria Betances LLC was ordered to pay $12 million for failure to report suspicious orders of pharmaceutical drugs and other controlled substance violations.
A press release by the U.S. Department of Justice states that the United States filed a complaint on November 3rd on Drogueria Betances LLC.
From at least 2016 to 2019, the company allegedly failed to report hundreds of suspicious orders for opioids and other controlled substances to the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the complaint. It included 655 suspicious orders for fentanyl and at least 113 suspicious orders for oxycodone. The misuse and trafficking of these two drugs have led to overdoses and contributed significantly to the opioid abuse epidemic. Additionally, from May 2017 to July 2018, over 7.8 million dosage units of Schedule II opioids went unreported because Drogueria Betances neglected their obligation to report distribution transactions to the DEA. The firm also committed hundreds of recordkeeping violations, such as filing orders for controlled substances with defective order forms and submitting inaccurate shipping or delivery information to the DEA.
The Justice Department conducted a financial condition analysis of Betances in relation to its potential exposure to civil fines and forfeiture, as mentioned in the press release. As per consent decree's requirements, the company will pay $12 million over five years in annual payments — including $1.8 million as civil forfeiture, and $10.2 million as civil penalties. The firm is also required under this decree to significantly improve its compliance program. They need an improved system for monitoring controlled substance orders adequately and submit annual reports detailing their compliance program's workings and customers' details to both DEA and other Justice Department components.
"The duty to report suspicious orders and other reporting requirements imposed on wholesale pharmaceutical distributors by the Controlled Substance Act is critical to ensuring the safety of our citizens from potential harm, including those associated with drug diversion, drug tampering and drug overdoses resulting from illegal drug sales and consumption," said U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico. "The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to do everything in our power to ensure compliance and will use all legal remedies available to hold corporate entities and individuals accountable."
