RxAmerica Responds to FDA's Indictments against Prescription Drug Distributors

May 25, 2005 - On April 28, 2005 the United States Attorney for the District of Utah and the FDA announced a series of indictments against several prescription drug distributors because of their involvement in obtaining and dispensing diverted drugs. Diverted drugs are defined on the FDA Web site as, "medications illegally bought, sold or otherwise circulated outside established distribution systems that assure their quality."

This drug diversion operation could affect the safety and efficacy of 40 or more medications that were purchased in over 80 pharmacies nationwide. The FDA has posted a list of the pharmacies and locations that may have received suspect drugs from the distributors in question. The site also includes a list of the drugs that were diverted, along with the name of the distributors. Please visit http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/answers/2005/ ANS01353lists.html to view the lists and receive instructions for returning suspect drugs. Unless a drug listed on the site was purchased from a listed pharmacy, it can be assumed safe and effective.

In an effort to protect our clients and the members they serve, RxAmerica is revising the protocol for selecting which pharmacies will receive desktop and onsite audits. RxAmerica has noted the pharmacies listed on the FDA Web site, and will be using this information as criteria for flagging possible audit sites. While we may not be able to investigate the source of a particular drug, we may uncover other problems related to misguided business practices, if they exist.