Nine months after admissions that it helped fuel the opioid epidemic, the wholesale pharmaceutical distributor Rochester Drug Cooperative has decided to no longer deal in opioid medications.
The company Tuesday said “the specific drugs represent a relatively small percent of total sales” but “they account for significant legal and compliance expenses.”
“The ever-increasing expenses associated with the legal and regulatory compliance for this segment of drugs are simply not sustainable,” the company said in a news release from RDC spokesman Jeff Eller.
Last year, Rochester Drug Cooperative, or RDC, became the first pharmaceutical distributor in the country to be criminally accused of a role in flooding the streets with dangerous prescription medications. Its former chief executive officer, Laurence Doud II, is facing criminal charges of narcotics trafficking.
In an agreement with federal prosecutors, RDC admitted in April that it failed to monitor the distribution of opioids, and closed its eyes to orders from pharmacies that were clearly part of an illicit opioid pipeline. The company agreed to a $20 million fine and tougher monitoring.
Twenty years ago, RDC was annually selling about $20 million of pharmaceuticals to the independent pharmacies that make up most of its customer base. Those gross sales recently eclipsed $2 billion.
(This is a breaking story. Return to DemocratandChronicle.com for updates.)
Contact Gary Craig at [email protected] or at 585-258-2479. Follow him on Twitter at gcraig1. This coverage is only possible with support from readers. Sign up today for a digital subscription.
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