Animal Health Solution - a Covetrus magazine for veterinary professionals
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1306279
27 Q4 2020 | Animal Health Solutions Examples of veterinary fines A Colorado veterinarian had to pay $226,000 in DEA fines in addition to surrendering his DEA registration, and permanently relinquishing his Colorado veterinary medicine license to settle allegations that he violated multiple provisions of the Controlled Substances Act. 3 A Marietta, Georgia veterinarian paid $90,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the recordkeeping requirements of the Controlled Substances Act. 4 Additional costs of DEA noncompliance The financial impact to your practice, following a DEA inspection, begins with mandated federal and in some cases, state fines. 1. Federal fines. $15,040 is the cost per DEA violation. In over three years assisting the veterinary community with DEA compliance from New York to Hawaii, the number of potential violations we identify per facility range from 5-27. When we are engaged to assist veterinarians after federal charges have been filed, we have never seen less than 11 violations. 2. State fines. In addition to federal fines, state fines are often assessed as well at varying amounts depending on the state in which you practice. Complacency is costly As noted in a collaborative article we wrote with American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) in 2019, many veterinarians have become complacent about compliance because, for a long time, veterinary hospitals weren't on the DEA's radar. Veterinarians often dismiss warnings about lax compliance with some variation of "the DEA's never come to my facility in 20 years, so what do I have to worry about?" The bottom line is that things have changed, and the days of veterinarians flying under the radar are long gone. 2 Do not allow yourself to be blindsided. The DEA's process for investigating DVMs is anything but transparent. They do not release information concerning the number of DVMs they are targeting, actively investigating, or have fined over violations. To make matters worse, if you are on the DEA's radar, there will be no warning—they will simply show up unexpectedly to assess your practice. The good news is you can take action now to ensure you are not only ready for that visit, but also in a position to send the DEA home with a positive report.