Wholesaler doesn’t handle patient’s care
What role does — or should — a wholesaler of pharmaceutical products play in determining a patient’s care plan? This is a critical question at the heart of some of the debate surrounding our nation’s opioid issue.
I firmly believe choices that impact a patient’s care must be made by the professional team working directly with the patient, and so does AmerisourceBergen. But, as a wholesale distributor, that doesn’t mean we can’t be a part of the solution.
AmerisourceBergen, like all wholesalers, plays a vital role within the health care system: providing a safe and efficient nationwide distribution network so providers can order and receive medications for their patients. We do this for essentially all prescription medication available in the U.S., including treatments for diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
A small fraction of our business is the distribution of opioid-based pain medications, based solely on orders placed by pharmacies. Quotas on the amount of opioidbased pain medicines that are available are set by the Drug Enforcement Administration and AmerisourceBergen does not manufacturer or market these drugs.
Recent litigation brought by cities in Ohio against several national wholesale drug distributors implies we should have a say in what medication patients take. But, we ask: Who should make that decision? Shouldn’t it be health-care professionals who know you, your medical history and are trained to recommend treatment plans?
When we receive an order, we don’t get any information on what patient it’s for, who wrote the prescription or the condition a provider believes necessitated the medicine. Mandated by law, a wholesaler like AmerisourceBergen doesn’t — and shouldn’t — have access to your medical records. When we distribute these products, we are operating in a system that is dependent on pharmacies ordering these products and doctors or other licensed providers prescribing them to patients appropriately.
Even though we don’t decide what medications are prescribed or dispensed, we work every day to do our part to fight against diversion of the controlled substances we distribute.
For example, we do not sell to every pharmacy. We take orders for medications only from DEA- and state-licensed pharmacies, hospitals and other providers. We have a substantial diversion-control program through which we vet our thousands of customers and use to ensure we, like our peers, only sell medicines to pharmacies that are licensed and registered with the appropriate federal and state authorities (DEA, Board of Pharmacy, Department of Health, etc.).
We share daily, detailed information directly with the DEA on every order of controlled substances we distribute, including opioid pain medication — the specific medication, quantity and ordering pharmacy. We also stop and report to the DEA any order deemed suspicious.
We believe the best way to manage prescription opioid abuse is on a local level. We must ensure providers, who work directly with patients, are best educated, trained and positioned to make appropriate treatment decisions for those individuals, and that they do so.
Simultaneously, we will continue to do our part to provide the safe and efficient distribution network that ensures product availability for the treatments that preserve or enhance quality of life while working with all partners to try to limit diversion and abuse.
Robert Mauch Executive vice president, president AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. Berwyn, Pennsylvania South Charleston