State Board to Request Reports of Painkiller Orders

West Virginia’s Board of Pharmacy plans to ask prescription drug wholesalers to report pharmacies that place suspiciously large orders of painkillers or other controlled substances.

The board plans to forward those reports to the state Attorney General’s Office, which last week sued a pharmacy in Boone County, alleging it provided too many highly addictive painkillers over more than a decade.

The distributors McKesson Corp. and Cardinal Health now notify the state of such questionable orders.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail (http://bit.ly/2hAI2Wi) reports the pharmacy board has agreed to send letters asking other wholesalers.

The board’s rules require they report suspicious prescription drug orders, but the regulations don’t spell out the criteria.

Distributors already submit reports on suspicious drug orders to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.