YAKIMA, Wash. – On November 14, 2025, a federal grand jury for the Eastern District of Washington returned an Indictment charging Anna Elperin, age 42, with 26 felony counts relating to prescriptions for controlled substances and Department of Transportation commercial driver’s licenses physical examinations Elperin wrote and performed at her...

SEATTLE –The Drug Enforcement Administration, in collaboration with nearly 4,000 law enforcement partners across the country, will host the 29th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day this Saturday, October 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At nearly 4,000 collection sites throughout the United States, DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take...

SEATTLE, Wash.--Dr. Andrew Voegel-Podadera, 35, a resident physician at the University of Washington Medical School who worked at Seattle Children’s Hospital, UW Medicine, and Harborview Medical Center is charged with two counts of Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Misrepresentation, Fraud, Deception, and Subterfuge. On June 24th, 2025, DEA Seattle Diversion...

SEATTLE, Wash.-- On June 20, 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) revoked the DEA registration of registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) Scott Eric Hansen. Hansen’s state license was indefinitely suspended in 2024 after a finding that his ability to issue controlled substance prescriptions posed an immediate danger to public health and...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A Bethel man and two California men were arrested this month after a federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment charging them with trafficking Tramadol to Alaska. According to court documents, between at least March 2024 and continuing until at least February 2025, Ryan Greydanus, 38...

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho--Scott Higgins, 57, of Coeur d’Alene, was sentenced yesterday on charges for theft from a program receiving federal funds and acquiring controlled substances by fraud, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Both charges relate to a drug diversion scheme that Higgins carried out over multiple years while employed...

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...

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...

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...

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...