DEA reverses decision stripping drug distributor of licenses for fueling opioid crisis

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and JIM MUSTIAN
Associated Press

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is allowing one of the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributors to stay in business, reversing an earlier order stripping the company of its licenses for its failure to properly monitor the shipment of tens of millions of addictive painkillers blamed for fueling the opioid crisis. Shreveport, La.-based Morris & Dickson agreed to forfeit $19 million as part of the settlement. Last year, the DEA revoked both Morris & Dickson’s licenses after an Associated Press investigation found it kept shipping drugs for nearly four years after a federal judge recommended the harshest penalty for its “cavalier disregard” of rules aimed at preventing opioid abuse.