On May 2, 2018, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA or Government), issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) and Immediate Suspension of Registration (ISO) to Morris & Dickson Co., LLC (Respondent), of Louisiana.
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Exhibit (ALJX) 1, at 1. The OSC informed Respondent of the immediate suspension of its Certificates of Registration Nos. RM0314790 and RM0335732 (registrations) [1] and proposed their revocation pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 824(a)(4) and 823(b) because it alleged that Respondent’s continued registrations were inconsistent with the public interest. Id.
Respondent requested a hearing before a DEA ALJ, which was conducted from May 13 to May 16, 2019. On August 29, 2019, the ALJ issued a Recommended Decision (RD), which was transmitted to the Agency along with the administrative record on November 26, 2019.[2] The Agency has incorporated portions of the ALJ’s RD herein.
The Government presented a prima facie case. Respondent ultimately admitted to and accepted some responsibility for its failures in effectively applying its customer due diligence in assessing orders of controlled substances, its failures to implement a suspicious order monitoring system “consistent with best practices for compliance,” and its failures to adequately resolve red flags on orders that it shipped. See infra section V. Respondent also admitted that its three suspicious order reports to DEA during the relevant time period were insufficient. Id. Nonetheless, Respondent presented testimony and evidence aimed at rebutting the Government’s case with regard to the scope of its regulatory noncompliance during the relevant time period.
After thoroughly reviewing the entire record, the Agency finds substantial record evidence that Respondent’s continued registration is inconsistent with the public interest in light of the long-term, egregious failures of Respondent in its responsibility as a distributor to maintain effective controls against diversion of controlled substances. Furthermore, the Agency finds that Respondent has failed to demonstrate that the Agency should continue to entrust it with its controlled substance registrations.
Information about this document as published in the Federal Register.
Tags: DEA Hydrocodone Opioid Crisis Order to Show Cause Oxycodone
