DEA Raids Two CVS Pharmacies in Florida

Florida's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) ramped up its fight on prescription painkiller abuse by raiding two CVS pharmacies in Sanford Saturday—the first time it's successfully gone after a major chain. Mark Trouville, special agent for the DEA's Miami bureau, says that the two pharmacies ordered three million doses of the painkiller oxycodone; the national average is 69,000 per pharmacy. These two CVS stores reportedly missed or ignored numerous red flags on filled scrips, including misspelled drug names, fake telephone numbers and irregular dosing instructions. In some instances, four or five people dropped off identical prescriptions from the same doctor at the same time, paid for by just one person. CVS says it's cooperating with DEA officials; the company informed several Florida physicians last fall that it would no longer fill the prescriptions they write for controlled narcotics, based on DEA tips. "CVS is unwavering in its compliance with and support of the measures taken by federal and state law enforcement officials to prevent drug abuse and keep controlled substances out of the wrong hands," states CVS Caremark Corporation. According to Trouville, seven people in Florida die every day as a result of prescription drug abuse.