United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Specialty Disposal Services, Inc., a controlled substance disposal company with its principal place of business in New Jersey, will pay $137,500 and enter into an administrative memorandum of agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration to resolve allegations that the company negligently failed to complete required records regarding the disposal of certain controlled substances. Specialty Disposal Services (SDS) is registered with the DEA as a reverse distributor.
The settlement resolves allegations that SDS negligently failed to make and keep records required by the Controlled Substances Act for reverse distributors arising from SDS’s transportation of controlled substances to a third-party facility in Morrisville, PA. In particular, the settlement resolves allegations that SDS negligently failed to properly complete the DEA form requiring verification that SDS’s employees witnessed the destruction of the controlled substances, which ultimately led to some of those controlled substances being subject to diversion by employees of the third-party facility. There are no allegations, however, that SDS was aware of or involved in the diversion. The settlement resolves liability for SDS’s record-keeping from January 9, 2017 through September 30, 2018. In addition to the $137,500 civil penalty, SDS entered into an administrative agreement with the DEA, in which it agreed to various compliance and monitoring measures such as ensuring its compliance with these regulatory obligations. SDS and the third-party facility cooperated with the government’s investigation.
