Oxycodone Purchases in Florida Show Steady Decline Due to New Laws, DEA Reports

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) data illustrates a 97% decrease in oxycodone purchases by doctors in Florida from 2010 to 2011, following the implementation of new state laws in 2011. DEA notes that in 2010 Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System (ARCOS) data showed that 90 of the top 100 oxycodone purchasing physicians in the nation were located in Florida, and that in 2011 only 13 prescribers on that list were located in Florida. DEA attributes this drop to the enforcement of new Florida laws that “stripped doctors of their ability to dispense controlled substances, including opioid based pain relievers, at rogue pain clinics,” as indicated in a DEA news release. DEA also indicates that there have been “notable increases in doctors purchasing oxycodone in Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky.” DEA states further that as “a result of law enforcement efforts and new state law, the remaining pill mill doctors are turning to writing prescriptions to be filled at pharmacies for drugs they previously dispensed directly to the customer. These prescriptions are then filled at pharmacies.” However, DEA explains that the dispensing of oxycodone at pharmacies in the state only increased during the first quarter of 2011 and has steadily decreased since the initiation of Operation Pill Nation, a large-scale prescription drug investigation in Florida, announced on February 23, 2011. Additional data and information is available in the DEA news release.