Morris & Dickson, a drug distributor based in Shreveport, La., agreed to pay $22 million to settle allegations that it failed to report thousands of suspicious opioid orders, according to CNBC.
The U.S. Justice Department claims the wholesale drug distributor failed to report more than 12,000 retail pharmacy orders to the DEA since 2014.
As part of the settlement, Morris & Dickson also agreed to spend millions of dollars to hire staff and improve its oversight of controlled substances.
Morris & Dickson did not admit any wrongdoing. However, the company told CNBC, "the opioid crisis is real, and we unequivocally accept our responsibility to do everything in our control as a distributor to prevent misuse — while also protecting deserving patients' ability to receive the doctor-prescribed medications they absolutely need."