Justice Department sues one of the largest drug distributors in the U.S.

AmerisourceBergen Corporation logo seen displayed on a smartphone.
(Image credit: SOPA Images / Contributor/Getty Images)

The Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit on Tuesday against one of the largest drug distributors in the U.S., AmerisourceBergen Corp., Politico reports. The DOJ alleges that the company failed to report "at least hundreds of thousands" of suspicious opioid orders to the Drug Enforcement Agency.

The Controlled Substances Act requires pharmaceutical distributors to monitor orders for controlled substances and flag any orders that seem suspicious to the DEA. AmerisourceBergen allegedly failed to report suspicious orders repeatedly since 2014, despite being notified of major "red flags" at pharmacies throughout the country, per the civil court filing. The DOJ believes that AmerisourceBergen knowingly sent drugs to at least five pharmacies they knew were engaged in suspicious behavior, including two in Florida and West Virginia where drugs "were likely being sold in parking lots for cash," per Politico.

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Theara Coleman, The Week US

Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.