Federal drug agents are seeking the prescription-writing records of three medical professionals as part of ongoing criminal investigations, but the state Board of Pharmacy won’t comply with a subpoena to produce the information.
The Drug Enforcement Administration filed a lawsuit in May against the Colorado Board of Pharmacy to obtain the records. Tuesday, a federal magistrate ordered the state to file an answer to the DEA’s lawsuit by July 27.
“Without access to the documents sought in the subpoena, the DEA’s investigatory efforts to address the potential wrongful conduct of licensed medical professionals practicing in Colorado would be severely compromised,” DEA diversion investigator Daniel J. McCormick wrote.
In April, the DEA wanted to find out whether a doctor was properly issuing prescriptions for an Internet company and whether the doctor had mishandled an inventory of painkillers, the suit says.
In March, the DEA sought information on a medical professional its staff believe was writing prescriptions for patients who were not examined and on a physician’s assistant they believed was issuing prescriptions without authorization.
The state’s computerized prescription drug-monitoring database allows physicians to look up drugs their patients have been prescribed to see if they have visited different doctors to obtain a surplus of medications, such as painkillers.
While many states have adopted similar databases to quash prescription-drug abuse, there are concerns the information could be misused by law enforcement or interfere with patient privacy rights.
State statute says the Colorado Board of Pharmacy will release information from the database to law enforcement “so long as the information released is specific to an individual and is part of a bona fide investigation and the request for information is part of or accompanied by an official court order or subpoena.”
Chris Lines, spokesman for the state Department of Regulatory Agencies, which oversees the Colorado Board of Pharmacy, said he could not comment on the suit and could not clarify why the subpoenas issued by DEA are insufficient.
According to the Colorado U.S. attorney’s office, which filed the suit on behalf of the DEA, federal law will trump state law on the subpoenas.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
