January 13 & 14, 2020; Albuquerque Marriot Pyramid North – Albuquerque, New Mexico

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) held a Practitioner Diversion Awareness Conference (PDAC) on January 13 & 14, 2020 in Albuquerque, NM. 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.

There were 389 veterinarians, dentists, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners in attendance. 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; New Mexico Medical Board; Prescriptions for Controlled Substances; Methods of Diversion and Effective Controls for Controlled Substances; New Mexico Health Professional Wellness Program; Inventories, Records, and Reports; Disposal, Return of Patient Meds., and Options for Patients; Registration Issues; Telemedicine; Training & Resources; New Mexico Prescription Monitoring Program; and New Mexico Board of Nursing.

Selected presentations from the Indianapolis, Indiana PDAC are available below.

The Opioid Epidemic and the Practice of Legitimate Medicine – Aziz Elkholy, Acting Section Chief, Liaison Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Drugs of Abuse and Trends – Paula Albert, Staff Coordinator, Liaison Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

New Mexico Medical Board – Debbie Dieterich, Investigation Manager, New Mexico Medical Board

Prescriptions for Controlled Substances – Antonio Guzman, Associate Section Chief, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Methods of Diversion and Effective Controls for Controlled Substances – Aziz Elkholy, Acting Section Chief, Liaison Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

New Mexico Health Professional Wellness Program – William H. Brady, MD, MBA, MSc, Medical Director & Mary Lynn Griffin, MA, LPCC, Clinical Coordinator

Inventories, Records, and Reports – Dwight Cokely, Staff Coordinator, Liaison Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Disposal, Return of Patient Meds, and Options for Patients – Dwight Cokely, Staff Coordinator, Liaison Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Registration Issues – Paula Albert, Staff Coordinator, Liaison Section, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Telemedicine – Antonio Guzman, Associate Section Chief, Diversion Control Division, DEA

Training & Resources – Heather McMurry, Diversion Program Manager, El Paso Field Division, DEA

New Mexico Prescription Monitoring Program – Peter Ryba, PharmD, Director, New Mexico Board of Pharmacy

New Mexico Board of Nursing – Marcus Erickson & Andrew Lucero, Investigators, New Mexico Board of Nursing