A recent blog by Hyman, Phelps & McNamara highlights a recent action by The California Board of Pharmacy (the “Board”) to address employee theft as one aspect of the opioid epidemic in 2018 by requiring pharmacies and clinics to reconcile their quarterly schedule II inventories. The approach was novel because to our knowledge, no other regulator, not the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), not other states, require pharmacies and clinics to physically inventory controlled substances, then reconcile those inventories with receipts and dispositions. DEA registrants, for example, are only required to take a physical inventory of all controlled substances on-hand at least once every two years and there is no reconciliation requirement. 21 C.F.R. § 1304.11(c). Most states mirror the federal biennial inventory requirement. Read the full blog here.
