ROUNDTABLE: Restoring DEA Enforcement Power Over Drug Distributors

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, the top-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, will lead a roundtable discussion on Tuesday, November 28 to discuss the need to strengthen Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) enforcement powers against opioid distributors and her bill to repeal the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016.

After media reports indicated that the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act of 2016 had dramatically restricted DEA’s ability to crack down on opioid distributors suspected of wrongdoing, McCaskill introduced a bill to repeal the law. The roundtable will focus on how the law handcuffs the agency and what more the agency can do to hold distributors accountable. Participants will include Joseph Rannazzisi, former head of the DEA Office of Diversion Control; Frank Younker, former DEA Diversion Group Supervisor, Cincinnati Resident Office; and Jonathan P. Novak, former DEA enforcement attorney. The DEA denied permission for its Chief Administrative Law Judge John J. Mulrooney II to participate in the roundtable.

Earlier this year, McCaskill launched an investigation into opioid manufactures—the most comprehensive Congressional investigation into the crisis to date—when she requested information related to sales and marketing materials, internal addiction studies, details on compliance with government settlements and donations to third party advocacy groups from major opioid manufacturers. In July, she expanded her investigation, requesting documents and information from opioid manufacturers Mallinckrodt, Endo, Teva, and Allergan, while a request to McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, and Cardinal Health, Inc., focused on their distribution of opioid products. In September, McCaskill announced the first round of findings, detailing systemic manipulation of the prior authorization process by Insys Therapeutics.