West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey wrote a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and the DEA administrator, demanding answers for the people of West Virginia on why the agencies now limit access to the Controlled Substances Act Registration Information Database.
“This database was part of the DEA’s response to some serious issues brought to light in a bombshell report conducted by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General in 2019,” Attorney General Morrisey said.
“This office raised similar questions as the OIG back in 2018 and even earlier,” the Attorney General added, writing in the letter that “This information must be freely available to the public, not just those entities DEA believes will use it in a way the agency approves.”
“The federal government’s response to reports exposing its failures that contributed to the opioid crisis’s breathtaking loss of life cannot be to hide what our public servants are doing about it now. Your agencies should welcome public accountability, not hide from it.”
Intended to increase transparency about the DEA’s active and retired registrations, the database was an essential tool for pharmacies to check a provider’s status before dispensing opioids.
Additionally, the database provides public accountability regarding DEA registration decisions. Access was previously available to the public through open sources like LexisNexis or subscription services.
Regrettably, the DEA and Department of Commerce have moved the database so that it is behind a firewall. Access is granted by the DEA and is approved “on a case-by-case basis.” Applicants must comply with DEA rules that include not sharing the information with others, as it considers this “unauthorized distribution” that could lead to “civil and/or criminal prosecution.”
“I urge the DEA and Department of Commerce to reconsider their new database policies and take immediate action to address these concerns,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “I’m advocating for better public access to DEA data that was previously available.”
“Agencies should welcome public accountability and I trust they’ll do the right thing.”
Original source can be found here.