As Strike Force Cracks Down on Distribution of Controlled Substances, Compliance Programs are Crucial for Healthcare Providers

Since the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division created the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO) Strike Force, which focuses on illegal opioid prescriptions, it has proven formidable. 

In April 2019, the ARPO federal prosecutor charged over 60 physicians and pharmacists for illegally prescribing opioids to patients who didn’t require them, making it the largest crackdown of its kind.

In the Appalachian region — including Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Alabama — as many as 32 million illegal prescription pain pills have been distributed to patients over the course of the investigation, with prosecutors refer to the providers as “white-coated drug dealers.” 

ARPO has two methods for catching “pill mill” operations. Investigators track prescription data monitoring programs and Medicaid billing to identify who prescribes abnormally high amounts of pain medications. From this point, investigators send in undercover agents, perform raids, and charge providers.

This task force is a joint law enforcement effort that will bring a variety of resources and expertise together to fight the overprescribing crisis, including the Health Care Fraud Unit in the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section (HCF Unit); the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in nine federal districts and five different states; the FBI, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). 

The task forces are specifically looking for fraud relating to suboxone prescribing, methadone prescribing, DATA waiver prescribing fraud, OTP (opioid treatment program) prescribing, and NTP (narcotic treatment program) prescribing. There is a strong crackdown on these areas; many providers are getting complaints or are being accused of overprescribing and facing investigations.