Affiliate
October 23rd, 2003, 11:33 PM
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<TD>Posted on Thu, Oct. 23, 2003</TD>
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<DIV class=->Judge Says Accused Pharmacy Can't Reopen</DIV>
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CATHERINE WILSON
Associated Press
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DAVIE, Fla. - A judge refused Thursday to stop the Drug Enforcement Administration from shutting down a pharmacy accused of filling invalid prescriptions for online orders based on customer questionnaires.
Lifeline Pharmacy and its supplier C&W Wholesale were shut down Oct. 10 after the DEA suspended their licenses for allegedly violating state law and federal regulations with its Internet-generated business.
"I'm just disappointed," said Richard Hersch, attorney for Lifeline and C&H. "We want to continue this fight because we think it's important to show that the underpinnings of the DEA's position on the pharmacy-doctor relationship is wrong."
The companies, which themselves don't operate Web sites selling prescription drugs, received doctor-approved prescriptions online from a billing company that services more than 50 sites offering medications.
The DEA maintains the prescriptions are invalid because they were not the result of a doctor's physical examination of a patient. Company attorneys maintain that face-to-face examinations are not required.
The jointly owned companies based in Davie asked to resume their storefront wholesale and retail businesses as long as they stopped their Web-based dispensing.
U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas suggested the wording for an order both sides could accept at an emergency hearing Tuesday, but the DEA stuck to its suspension.
The companies said they have already fired six of 30 employees since the raid and would have to get rid of 11 more in the next two weeks unless the suspension was lifted.
Lifeline filled 2.9 million doses of prescription drugs, mostly for weight loss and sleep aids, for online customers in less than three months this year and was filling up to 1,000 orders a day, the DEA said. C&H became a high-volume wholesaler of amphetamines and the sleeping pill Ambien since opening in 1999.
RxNetwork, a pharmacy in the same Davie office complex, was shut down by the DEA and lost its license Wednesday. It was accused of filling similar Internet prescription orders.
The enforcement actions against all three companies are civil matters, but Lifeline and C&H were served with search warrants in August as part of a criminal investigation that hasn't yet produced any charges.</TD></TR></T></TABLE>
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<TD>Posted on Thu, Oct. 23, 2003</TD>
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<DIV class=->Judge Says Accused Pharmacy Can't Reopen</DIV>
<DIV class=->
CATHERINE WILSON
Associated Press
</DIV>
<TABLE cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=0 width=100 align=right>
<T></T></TABLE>
DAVIE, Fla. - A judge refused Thursday to stop the Drug Enforcement Administration from shutting down a pharmacy accused of filling invalid prescriptions for online orders based on customer questionnaires.
Lifeline Pharmacy and its supplier C&W Wholesale were shut down Oct. 10 after the DEA suspended their licenses for allegedly violating state law and federal regulations with its Internet-generated business.
"I'm just disappointed," said Richard Hersch, attorney for Lifeline and C&H. "We want to continue this fight because we think it's important to show that the underpinnings of the DEA's position on the pharmacy-doctor relationship is wrong."
The companies, which themselves don't operate Web sites selling prescription drugs, received doctor-approved prescriptions online from a billing company that services more than 50 sites offering medications.
The DEA maintains the prescriptions are invalid because they were not the result of a doctor's physical examination of a patient. Company attorneys maintain that face-to-face examinations are not required.
The jointly owned companies based in Davie asked to resume their storefront wholesale and retail businesses as long as they stopped their Web-based dispensing.
U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas suggested the wording for an order both sides could accept at an emergency hearing Tuesday, but the DEA stuck to its suspension.
The companies said they have already fired six of 30 employees since the raid and would have to get rid of 11 more in the next two weeks unless the suspension was lifted.
Lifeline filled 2.9 million doses of prescription drugs, mostly for weight loss and sleep aids, for online customers in less than three months this year and was filling up to 1,000 orders a day, the DEA said. C&H became a high-volume wholesaler of amphetamines and the sleeping pill Ambien since opening in 1999.
RxNetwork, a pharmacy in the same Davie office complex, was shut down by the DEA and lost its license Wednesday. It was accused of filling similar Internet prescription orders.
The enforcement actions against all three companies are civil matters, but Lifeline and C&H were served with search warrants in August as part of a criminal investigation that hasn't yet produced any charges.</TD></TR></T></TABLE>