DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
27 Results - Showing 1 to 10
PRESS RELEASE

Communities Nationwide Turn In Nearly 630,000 Pounds of Unneeded Medications on DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

SEATTLE – On Oct. 26, DEA and over 4,400 law enforcement partners collected nearly 630,000 pounds of unused medications at 4,600 locations nationwide. This effort to empty medicine cabinets helps to prevent drug misuse before it starts. Since its inception, DEA’s National Prescription Take Back Day has removed nearly 19.2...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Hosts the 27th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday to Remove Unneeded Medications from Homes

SEATTLE –The Drug Enforcement Administration, in collaboration with more than 4,000 law enforcement partners across the country, will host the 27th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day this Saturday, October 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. National Prescription Drug Take Back Day encourages the safe and anonymous disposal of...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA and its Partners Remove More than 670,000 Pounds of Unused Medications from Communities Nationwide

SEATTLE – DEA and its local law enforcement partners collected 670,136 pounds of unused medications during the 26th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 27, 2024. The DEA Seattle Field Division, which includes Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Idaho, collected 18,214 pounds of unneeded prescription medication with the help...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Enters 15th Year of Removing Unneeded Medications from Communities

SEATTLE – Together with its law enforcement partners, the Drug Enforcement Administration will host its 26th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event aims to remove unneeded prescriptions from homes to help prevent medication misuse by offering anonymous disposal...
PRESS RELEASE

Idaho Doctor Pays $96,000 to Settle Allegations That He Wrote Unlawful Prescriptions

POCATELLO – Dr. Gerald Knouf, a family medicine doctor formerly of Pocatello, Idaho, agreed to pay $96,000 to resolve allegations that he wrote unlawful prescriptions, prescribed dangerous combinations of drugs, and billed Medicare and Medicaid for services that were not performed, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. The settlement also...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Day Removes Almost 600,000 Pounds of Unneeded Prescription Medications Across the Country

SEATTLE, Wash. – On Oct. 28, 2023, the community once again emptied their medicine cabinets to help dispose of old, unwanted, and expired medications. Nationwide, DEA and its law enforcement partners collected 599,897 pounds of unneeded medications at 4,675 collection sites nationwide. Locally, the DEA Seattle Field Division collected 15,799...
PRESS RELEASE

DEA Hosts 25th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

SEATTLE, Wash. – The Drug Enforcement Administration Seattle Field Division and its partners will host the 25th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, October 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event offers an easy, no-cost opportunity for the community to anonymously dispose of unneeded medications at...
PRESS RELEASE

Ferry County Hospital District Agrees to Pay $15,000 Penalty and Implement Corrective Actions to Address Improper Opioid Dispensing Practices at Republic Pharmacy

SPOKANE, Wash.– The Ferry County Hospital District agreed to pay a $15,000 Controlled Substances Act penalty and to institute corrective actions in regards to opioid prescribing practices at Republic Drug Store, a pharmacy in Republic, Washington, that Ferry County Hospital District purchased in January 2021 and has continued to operate...
PRESS RELEASE

Former Alaska Advanced Nurse Practitioner Sentenced to 30 Years for Illegally Prescribing Millions of Opioids Causing Five Deaths

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA—Former Advanced Nurse Practitioner Jessica Joyce Spayd (52) was sentenced in U.S. District Court yesterday to 30 years (360 months) imprisonment for illegally prescribing and dispensing opioids outside the scope of legitimate medical practice that resulted in the deaths of five people between 2014 and 2019. United States District...
PRESS RELEASE

Communities Across the Country Remove Nearly 664,000 Pounds of Unneeded Prescription Medications to Prevent Drug Misuse

SEATTLE, Wash.--On April 22, 2023, DEA and its law enforcement partners came together once again to protect our communities from prescription misuse by safely disposing of 663,725 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country. Since its inception in 2010, DEA’s bi-annual National Prescription Take Back...