DEA's failure to discipline distributor blamed for fueling opioid crisis

The DEA allowed Morris & Dickson Co. to continue shipping highly addictive painkillers for nearly four years after a judge recommended it be stripped of its license for disregarding suspicious opioid orders.
The delay raises concerns about how the revolving door between government and industry may be impacting the DEA’s ability to regulate companies blamed for the US opioid epidemic.
Morris & Dickson, the fourth-largest US drug distributor, did not respond to requests for comment.
Louis Milione, now DEA’s principal deputy administrator, did not respond to requests for comment on his previous work for Morris & Dickson.
Morris & Dickson agreed to pay $22 million to resolve claims it failed to report suspicious hydrocodone and oxycodone orders, but the penalty came too late to stem the epidemic, experts argue.