The Knock You Cannot Prepare For
It starts with a phone call. Someone from the lobby tells you the Drug Enforcement Administration is here — badge in hand, DEA Form 82 ready to sign. They are not asking for a tour. They are conducting a full accountability audit of your controlled substances.
This is not hypothetical. On April 1, 2024, DEA diversion investigators arrived at University Health Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and spent nearly three weeks on campus, following controlled substances from incoming orders to outgoing waste. As pharmacy operations manager Emily Mueller, PharmD, MS, BCPS, and director of pharmacy Erin Boswell, PharmD, BCPS, later described at the ASHP 2025 Midyear Clinical Meeting, investigators reviewed CSOS records, 222 forms, invoices, ADC transaction histories, and waste documentation. They interviewed pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, nurses, anesthesia directors, and purchasing staff. They selected 10 controlled substances — a mix of solid, oral, and IV agents including fentanyl and oxycodone — and traced each one from purchase to destruction. Read More >
