Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jul 2005
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2005 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Chris Krug
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

WALGREENS AGREES TO PAY $1.33M

Walgreens officials have agreed to a $1.33 million settlement to resolve 
claims most of their Oklahoma stores failed to monitor the sale of cold 
medicine containing pseudoephedrine, an ingredient in the illegal 
manufacture of methamphetamine.

"We believe there's little to be gained by litigating this," said Tiffani 
Bruce, Walgreens spokeswoman. "We'd much rather be spending money fighting 
meth abuse than spending money fighting lawsuits." The settlement requires 
the Deerfield, Ill.-based company to pay $1,333,333 in penalties to various 
state and federal agencies, said U.S. Attorney Robert G. McCampbell. The 
settlement resulted from negotiations between McCampbell's Western District 
of Oklahoma office and Walgreens officials after city, state and federal 
investigators say they discovered many of the company's drugstores were 
breaking the Oklahoma pseudoephedrine law. Stores cannot sell more than 9 
grams of pseudoephedrine to a customer in a 30-day period, according to a 
state law enacted in April 2004. The law requires pharmacists or clerks to 
track a customer's purchase with a store logbook. "The facts show that 
Walgreens was careless," McCampbell said Thursday while announcing the 
settlement. "But if you're selling pseudoephedrine, you can't be careless." 
Scott Rowland, attorney for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous 
Drugs, said Thursday that almost 50 Walgreens stores were still violating 
the state law to varying degrees during his agency's investigation of the 
pharmacy chain.

The investigation began last fall and ended this month. U.S. Attorney David 
O'Meilia said the settlement demonstrates the effectiveness of the 
pseudoephedrine law and how pharmacies' compliance is crucial to stopping 
meth production. "The absolutely necessary compliance by businesses that 
sell the product in various forms has been extremely successful in 
preventing the meth cooks from obtaining the key ingredient in their 
illicit recipes," said O'Meilia, the attorney for the Northern District of 
Oklahoma. The number of meth lab seizures each month has declined steadily 
since the law was enacted, according to the state narcotics bureau.

That month, 57 meth labs were seized.

In May, six meth labs were seized. Also as part of the settlement, 
Walgreens must begin training its employees in compliance with the 
pseudoephedrine law. Internal officers must be appointed who will submit 
annual reports to law enforcement agencies. Walgreens also must hire an 
independent agency to monitor compliance among its Oklahoma stores.

Sidebar Settlement details Walgreens' $1.3 million settlement was 
distributed Wednesday to state and federal agencies involved in the 
investigation and negotiations. Distributions include:

$333,333 to U.S. Western District of Oklahoma

$333,333 to U.S. Eastern District of Texas

$333,333 to Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics

$166,666 to Garfield County District Attorney's office

$166,666 to Enid Police Department Source:

U.S. Attorney's office, Western District of Oklahoma

Walgreens also must invest about $1 million for an electronic system to 
monitor pseudoephedrine purchases at its 67 stores in the state.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom