The DOJ announced that father and son pharmacists, Isaac F. Brady III and Isaac F. Brady IV, entered a consent decree to resolve allegations of unlawful opioid distributions. The consent decree restrains and enjoins the pharmacy, Asheboro Drug Company, and its employees from dispensing any controlled substances, unless they do so in strict compliance with 21 U.S.C. § 842, C.F.R. §§ 1306.04, 1306.06, or any of North Carolina’s controlled substance regulations. The Defendants were also ordered to pay $300,000 in civil penalties.
According to the Complaint, these Asheboro pharmacists ignored blatant red flags of drug abuse and filled opioid prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. Specifically, it was alleged that the pharmacists filled high opioid prescriptions on a long-term basis, dispensed the same prescriptions to multiple members of the same family, and recklessly filled prescriptions of dangerous combinations often sought by drug users. The pharmacists also allegedly overlooked signs of patients shopping around for doctors willing to prescribe controlled substances and disregarded repeat prescriptions from the same doctors.
The Asheboro pharmacy is now required to review the North Carolina prescription data monitoring program, and other available information, prior to distributing controlled substances. The pharmacy and its pharmacists are also prohibited from filling certain prescriptions— like combinations of an opioid, a benzodiazepine, and a carisoprodol. Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Murphy of the DEA Atlanta Field Division commented that, “Pharmacists are not simply pill-counters. The penalty and injunction in this case serves notice that DEA will not turn a blind eye when pharmacists shirk their duty by ignoring red flags of abuse and diversion.”
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