For pharmacies and pharmacists wanting to know exactly what they need to do to comply with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) requirements, the agency has a straightforward answer: Follow our enforcement actions.

Particularly when it comes to complying with their corresponding responsibility under 21 C.F.R. §1306.04(a), pharmacies and pharmacists have sometimes been unable to understand exactly what they need to do to ensure that a prescription has been issued for a legitimate medical purpose by an individual practitioner acting in the usual course of his or her professional practice.

In a recent decision and order revoking a pharmacy’s DEA registration, the agency insisted that its enforcement actions provide “ample notice to the registrant community of DEA’s expectations.”

Pharmacy professionals must always be aware of the alleged violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and DEA regulations that are being investigated by the agency and by the Department of Justice (DOJ) — including alleged failures to resolve red flags of controlled substance abuse or diversion, alleged violations of CSA recordkeeping requirements, and other alleged wrongdoings.

This white paper, brought to you by the experts at Thompson Controlled Substances, analyzes recent DEA and DOJ enforcement actions involving the dispensing and storage of controlled substances.

As the DEA has stated, staying on top of the latest enforcement activity is the best way for pharmacies and pharmacists to know what they need to do to comply with the DEA’s complex and demanding requirements.