The MDJ reported that more than 11 million prescription pain pills were supplied in Chattooga County during the seven years from 2006 to 2012, according to evidence in a class-action lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors playing out in an Ohio federal district court.
Chattooga County consumers received 11,569,850 pills. The top three pharmacies were CVS in Summerville, 3.8 million; Trion Drugs, 3.2 million; and Walmart, 2.2 million.
The hydrocodone and oxycodone pills went to pharmacies around the county, which had a population of 25,950 in the 2010 census.
In Georgia, more than 2.2 billion pills were shipped to retail consumers from 2006 to 2012.
Here’s a more detailed look at what happened in the northwest region:
- Floyd County 50.5 million pills, the top three pharmacies receiving the shipments were Walgreens, at more than 4 million; Winslette Pharmacy, 3.9 million; and McGowan-Jones Pharmacy in Shannon, 3.7 million.
- Polk County received 24,436,350 pills, the top three pharmacies were Bradford Drug Store, at 4.5 million pills; CVS in Cedartown, 3.7 million; and Smith-Lockwood Drug Store, 2.8 million.
- Gordon County received 16,076,190 oxycodone and hydrocodone pills. The top three pharmacies were Harbin’s Prescription Shop, 4 million; CVS in Calhoun, 2.3 million; and Kroger, 1.7 million.
- Bartow County’s shipments totaled 33,039,206 pills, the top three receiving pharmacies were Eckerd in Cartersville, 3.6 million; Holt’s Pharmacy, 3.5 million; and Adairsville Drug, 2.6 million.
- Walker County received 18,574,876 pills, the top three pharmacies were Rocky Top Pharmacy in Rossville, 4.9 million; Ledfords Rx Express, 3.1 million; and CVS in LaFayette, 2.6 million.
- Catoosa County got 25,625,360 pills, the top three pharmacies were Walgreens in Fort Oglethorpe, 6.1 million; Walmart in Fort Oglethorpe, 2.7 million; and CVS in Ringgold, 2.6 million.
The Washington Post reported America’s largest drug companies saturated the country with more than 76 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pain pills from 2006 through 2012 as the nation’s deadliest drug epidemic spun out of control, according to previously undisclosed company data released as part of the largest civil action in U.S. history.
The information comes from a database maintained by the Drug Enforcement Administration that tracks the path of every single pain pill sold in the United States — from manufacturers and distributors to pharmacies in every town and city. The data provides an unprecedented look at the surge of legal pain pills that fueled the prescription opioid epidemic, which has resulted in nearly 100,000 deaths from 2006 through 2012
