Lowell Animal Hospital in Northwest Indiana searched by DEA agents in prescription investigation
An animal hospital in Lowell, Indiana, was searched by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agents, shutting it down for hours Wednesday.
Lowell Animal Hospital posted on its Facebook page Wednesday morning that they were "currently closed for the remainder of the morning until further notice."
"Don't fret—we plan to be back up and running in no time! Our team is working hard behind the scenes, and we'll share updates as soon as we have them," they wrote.
The closure was because the animal hospital was being searched by federal drug agents. The DEA said in a statement that local DEA agents executed a federal search warrant at the animal hospital as part of an ongoing investigation "into the alleged diversion of controlled substances."
The warrant was signed by e federal judge. Experts say these kinds of searches are conducted when the DEA suspects someone licensed to prescribe medication was possibly reselling it or taking it for themselves. Typically what happens in a situation like this, which is exploratory in nature, is that agents are able to toke a look at inventory and records to figure out if their suspicions are true.
If their suspicions are true, anyone involved can lose their right to prescribe controlled substances medication, which applies to anyone with a license, including a nurse practitioner, a veterinarian, or someone in charge.
After the search, Lowell Animal Hospital posted a statement saying they "received an unexpected phone call" Wednesday morning about the DEA wanting "records related to a single canine cough prescription they perceived was being prescribed with too much frequency."
Animal hospital staff said they complied with the search warrant and gave over the records, and said a review of those records shows they are issuing prescriptions for this medicine "in line with dosage instructions."
They said they have complied with providing all information in question and planned to open at about 2 p.m.
A neighbor who runs a daycare facility next door said she saw the agents pull up.
"I just saw a bunch of cars, police cars, and I was notified because the parent were saying, 'What is happening over here?' Gosh, I don't know, I'll see if I can find out. I went to ask and by that time they were inside," said Susan Geist, owner of Brookside Christian Academy.
CBS News Chicago asked staff at Lowell Animal Hospital if they would sit down with us for an interview in person, but they declined We also asked if anyone had lost their ability to prescribe medication as a result of this investigation, but they also decline to answer that question.
