Sixth Street Drugs, Illegitimate Controlled Substances Prescriptions, Michigan 2024

Pharmacy Settles DEA Charges, Agrees to Pay $1.5 Million

GRAND RAPIDS – Sixth Street Drugs, Inc., a Munson Healthcare subsidiary located in Traverse City, Michigan, has agreed to pay $1.5 million to the United States and enter into a three-year Memorandum of Agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to resolve allegations that it violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) by filling numerous prescriptions for controlled substances despite red flags that the prescriptions were not valid.

According to the allegations, the pharmacy failed to identify and resolve numerous red flags before filling prescriptions, resulting in patients receiving dangerous drug cocktails, extraordinarily high opioid doses, and prescriptions from numerous prescribers and used multiple pharmacies. The pharmacy also lacked appropriate written policies and procedures relating to dispensing controlled substances.

The government began investigating Sixth Street Drugs based on information that it was an outlier in a number of categories relating to schedule II controlled substances, including its quantities of oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, and amphetamine. Following an administrative inspection in 2019, DEA alleged that Sixth Street Drugs failed to identify and resolve numerous red flags before filling prescriptions.

As part of the settlement, Sixth Street Drugs entered into a three-year Memorandum of Agreement with DEA that prescribes the pharmacy’s drug-handling responsibilities, mandates external controlled substance audits, and requires the pharmacy to institute a broad-based educational program focused on preventing drug diversion. In reaching this settlement, the government recognized the substantial steps Munson Healthcare took in response to DEA’s investigation to address problems relating to Sixth Street Drugs’ handling of controlled substances.

“Prescription drug abuse and diversion—and the overprescribing that often enables them—have caused tremendous damage throughout the Western District of Michigan,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “My office will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who fail to live up to their legal responsibilities and contribute to this crisis, including pharmacies and physicians.”

Kent R. Kleinschmidt, DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Detroit Field Division, stated, “careless behavior and negligence allow for substances to be diverted and sold on the black market with no measure of accountability. This is the type of reckless behavior that fuels the opioid epidemic.”

Defendant: Sixth Street Drugs, Inc.
Criminal Charges: Violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)
City and State: Traverse City, Michigan
Exact Date: 2024
Sentence or Outcome: Pay $1.5 million to the United States and enter into a three-year Memorandum of Agreement with the DEA
Dollar Amounts: $1.5 million

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