According to the daily newspaper, the American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been investigating US distributors who have been delivering these products to online pharmacies, pharmacies and clinics for several years. The distributors were making the deliveries without checking their real destinations even though the orders were highly suspect (destination, quantity, frequency and patient type). The DEA investigation has been running for over 10 years. The companies are also accused of not alerting the DEA of suspected illegal activity, nor implementing a regulatory and reliable tracking and alert system even though they were almost all warned by the authorities. The 13 companies involved include McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen (the Big Three) who, between them, control 85% of the American pharmaceutical distribution market. Since 2007, the DEA has won several cases against these companies, leading to fines of over $280m, license withdrawals and the shutting down of distribution centers.
Source : www.washingtonpost.com