Pharmacies and pharmacists are being held to higher standards than before when it comes to opioid liability. And with the convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing opioid crisis, patients are at more risk than ever of developing opioid dependency or relapsing.
In a virtual session presented during the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) 2020 Annual Convention, which was held online October 18-20, Linda Clark, JD, Health Care Controversies Team Leader, Barclay Damon LLP and Joe Moose, PharmD, owner of Moose Pharmacies, discussed best practices for how pharmacists can help their patients while protecting themselves against potential lawsuits when it comes to dispensing opioid medications.
Already a national crisis prior to COVID-19, evidence suggests that the opioid epidemic has only worsened since the start of pandemic. According to Clark, over 20 million people in the US are reporting having a substance use disorder, many of whom are experiencing the additional stress of being locked down. Statistics have showed that drug overdoses climbed 18% within the first few months of the pandemic.
As opioid litigation against the drug supply chain continues to advance, pharmacies are under increased scrutiny when it comes to opioid dispensing. “We’re finding that more and more courts facing these issues are holding pharmacies to a very high standard indeed,” Clark said.
Pharmacies involved in lawsuits face allegations that include handling high volumes of opioid drugs without proper oversight, often with claims that defendants disregarded certain data and violated best practices. Clark also pointed to an uptick in prosecutors seeking to hold pharmacies and pharmacists criminally liable. For example, in 2017, a New Jersey pharmacist was convicted in federal court of distributing and illegally dispensing oxycodone. In some instances, the pharmacist would fill prescriptions for oxycodone even though the prescription had apparently been “washed” or “bleached” to remove the original physician’s writing.
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