March 18-19, 2019; Renaissance Cleveland Hotel – Cleveland, Ohio

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) held a Practitioner Diversion Awareness Conference (PDAC) on March 18 & 19, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. This was a one-day conference, repeated on the second day, for the convenience of the practitioner community. The conference was developed and designed to address the growing problem of diversion of pharmaceutical controlled substances throughout the United States. In addition to pharmacy robberies and thefts, pharmaceutical controlled substances are often diverted by way of forged prescriptions, doctor shoppers, or illegitimate prescriptions from rogue practitioners. The objective of this conference was to educate healthcare professionals on ways to address and respond to potential diversion activity.

Over 286, veterinarians, dentists, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners. The conference attendees received approximately seven hours of instruction on a variety of topics. The presentations included; The Opioid Epidemic and the Practice of Legitimate Medicine, Drugs of Abuse and Trends, Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs, Prescriptions for Controlled Substances, Methods of Diversion and Effective Controls for Controlled Substances, State Medical Board, Inventories, Records, and Reports, Registration Issues, Disposal, Return of Patient Meds, and Options for Patients, Telemedicine, Training & Resources and Probation/Physician Wellness.

Selected presentations from the Cleveland, Ohio PDAC are below.

The Opioid Epidemic and the Practice of Legitimate Medicine – James A. Arnold, Section Chief, Liaison Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Drugs of Abuse and Trends – Antonio Guzman, Associate Section Chief, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Opioid Prescribing Regulation – A.J. Groeber, Executive Director, State Medical Board of Ohio

Prescriptions for Controlled Substances – Loren T. Miller, Section Chief, Policy Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Methods of Diversion and Effective Controls for Controlled Substances – Scott A. Brinks, Staff Coordinator, Import/Export and Chemical Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Ohio Physicians Health Program – David G. Goldberg, D.O., Medical Director, Ohio Physicians Health Program

Inventories, Records, and Reports – Marsha L.D. Ikner, Staff Coordinator, Liaison Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Registration Issues – Loren T. Miller, Section Chief, Policy Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Disposal, Return of Patient Meds, and Options for Patients – Marsha L.D. Ikner, Staff Coordinator, Liaison Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Telemedicine – James A. Arnold, Section Chief, Liaison Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Training & Resources – Aziz Elkholy, Staff Coordinator, Liaison Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

The Ohio Automated RX Reporting System (OARRS) – Jenni Wai, RPh, Chief Pharmacist, State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy