On Friday, March 2, 2012, a judge ordered that the temporary restraining order entered on behalf of CVS Pharmacy against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will remain in effect until March 13. This temporary restraining order prohibits the DEA from banning two Sanford CVS pharmacies from filling prescriptions for controlled substances like oxycodone and hydrocodone.
CVS Pharmacy filed a request with the court for the temporary restraining order in early February 2012, after the DEA issued emergency suspension orders against two of CVS Pharmacy's Central Florida stores for allegedly not having a system in place to detect illegitimate prescriptions.
However, according to court documents it is the position of CVS that the two Central Florida pharmacies in question not only voluntarily stopped distributing oxycodone prescriptions, but also stopped filling controlled substance prescriptions written by doctors identified by CVS as "high-prescribing" physicians (see this blog).
In addition to extending CVS' temporary restraining order, the judge also ordered the DEA to file the agency's full administrative record with the court by March 5, 2012.
For more information about legal matters impacting pharmacies, like emergency suspension orders and other DEA actions, please visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com.