A federal shutdown of pain pill sales at two wholesale drug companies prominent in South Florida has led to a shortage of oxycodone, an inexpensive narcotic popular in the area's controversial pain clinics.
Pharmacists, police and patients with chronic pain said some clinics and small drugstores in Broward and Palm Beach counties that sell large quantities of "oxy" and other pain pills can't get as much as before and are running out.
As a result, patients have been forced to go from store to store to fill their prescriptions. That includes legitimate sufferers as well as addicts and drug dealers who have turned South Florida pain clinics into a major East Coast source for narcotics.
"A lot of people are out there searching," said Broward Sheriff's Office Sgt. Rich Pisanti, who leads a pain clinic investigation unit in Oakland Park. "The number of out-of-state people [at pain clinics] is down noticeably. People hear the area has dried up."
The shortage arose after the Drug Enforcement Administration in June suspended two distributors from selling narcotic medications, including oxycodone,
hydrocodone and brand-names such as Percocet and Vicodin.
The DEA said Sunrise Wholesale in Sunrise and Michigan-based Harvard Drug Group, which has an office in Tamarac, were supplying millions of pain pills a year to pain clinics and others that sold them to patients with no medical need for them.
Sunrise Wholesale surrendered its DEA license. Company officials could not be reached for comment despite several attempts by phone. Harvard has revised its oversight methods so it can sell most of the drugs and is working with the DEA to resume oxycodone sales, said company attorney Stephen E. Glazek.
The shutdowns also spooked other wholesale companies, which stopped selling pain drugs in Florida, said Paul Sloan, head of a pain clinic association.
Alicia Murphy, a Deerfield Beach cancer patient who takes oxy pills to manage chronic pain, was one of a half-dozen people who said they were turned away at several stores. She finally filled her prescription in Boca Raton.
"I have traveled over 100 miles looking for my medicine," Murphy said.
Sloan said the DEA is overreacting to the problem and "creating a crisis" for patients who may be dependent on pain medication.
"A governmental agency is shutting down the supply of legal drugs to legally licensed facilities," said Sloan Venice, organizer of the Florida Society of Pain Management Providers.
DEA spokespersons declined to comment on the actions against wholesalers and the shortages.
But longtime pharmacist Bob Fishman, owner of Post Haste Pharmacy in Hollywood, said he doesn't blame the DEA for the shortage.
"There's nobody at fault," Fishman said. "It's a complicated issue. You have all these people who actually need the drugs because they are sick or someone got them addicted. Then you have all these people who are selling it illegally. It's pretty hard to separate them… How do we fix the system so we don't hurt the good ones while we get rid of the bad?"
Fishman said patients have told him that some clinics have been making up for lost income by doubling oxy prices to $2 per pill and raising doctor visits by $50 to $75.
Also, he said some clinics have started obeying an impending state law that will let them sell no more than a three-day supply of pain pills, even though the law doesn't take effect until Oct. 1.
Prescription trafficking cases, namely oxycodone, alprazolam, and hydrocodone, need to be handled by an experienced and equally aggressive
criminal defense attorney.
There may be many 4th Amendment considerations, which protects your right to be free from
unlawful searches and seizures of your person and possessions. While the federal and Florida governments may be on a mission to wipe out prescription drug abuse, they must do so with the civil rights of all citizens in mind. Every person has a constitutional right to be free from unlawful police intrusion. No amount of narcotics recovered by law enforcement can ever justify a bad search. it is the job of a qualified criminal defense lawyer to protect the rights of his or her client, despite the severity of the charge.
I protect the rights of my clients each and every day in Miami-Dade and Broward County. While I have respect for the brave men and women who serve our communities as law enforcement officers, I also know that police officers are not always honest, and are sometimes more concerned with "making the bust" than they are protecting the rights of the accused.
As I often say...I believe that criminal defense attorneys are the buffer between a total police state and a free society.
I represent clients charged with prescription drug trafficking in Miami-Dade County and in Broward County. These crimes are deadly serious! Convicted prescription drug traffickers can easily receive longer and harsher sentences than convicted child molesters and murderers! It's tragic, but it is the priority of Florida's government to lock away every single person who trafficks in prescriptions! Remember that trafficking can mean possession, as the statute defines "trafficking" based on the weight of the drug, not its sale or transportation.
Call me today to discuss your case.