Oklahoma Pharmacy Pays $140,000 to Settle Civil Penalty Claims Stemming from Allegations of Recordkeeping Violations

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – OU Medicine Inc. d/b/a OU Health (“OU Health”), paid $140,000 to settle civil penalty claims stemming from allegations it violated the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (“Act”) and its regulations, announced United States Attorney Robert J. Troester.

OU Health has owned and operated the OU Health Pharmacy – OU Health Physicians Building (“Pharmacy”) located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, since July 16, 2022.  The Pharmacy provides controlled substances to patients and in the past provided controlled substances to physician clinics within the OU Health system.

Recordkeeping is a vital part of managing controlled substances. Complete and accurate records help avoid diversions and losses of controlled drugs. The regulations implementing the Act require a registrant seeking to purchase Schedule II controlled substances to fill out the purchaser portion of a DEA Form-222, specify the descriptions and amounts of Schedule II substances being ordered, and provide the annotated form to the seller.  The seller then must complete its portion of the DEA Form-222 at delivery, ensuring the substance identifications and quantities match those ordered.  Failure to comply can result in civil monetary penalties.

The United States alleges that from November 16, 2020, through August 1, 2022, the Pharmacy accepted blank-signed DEA Form-222s from purchasers in violation of federal regulations.  The Pharmacy, not the purchaser, entered on the forms the descriptions and amounts of Schedule II substances being ordered.  To resolve these allegations, OU Health agreed to pay $140,000 to the United States.

In reaching this settlement, OU Health did not admit liability, and the government did not make any concessions about the legitimacy of the claims.  The agreement allows the parties to avoid the delay, expense, inconvenience, and uncertainty involved in litigating the case.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of Diversion Control.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ronald R. Gallegos and Amanda R. Johnson prosecuted the case.