The Ponca Tribe in White Eagle, Oklahoma. Photo from Ponca Tribe

A Mississippi company lost its pharmacy wholesaler license in Oklahoma after selling an unusually large number of painkillers and other drugs to two tribes.

In just six months, Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Inc. sold 13,832,500 dosage units of Carisoprodol, Tramadol, and Butalbital/APAP/Caffeine to Elk River Pharmacy, according to the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy. During one three-day period in December 2008, Elk River, which was licensed by the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe, bought 1,695,000 dosage units of those drugs, the state said.

An unusually large number of the same three drugs were also sold to White Eagle RX and White Eagle Distribution, according to the state. During a six-week period in 2009, Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Inc. sold 2,208,000 dosage units to the two entities, which were licensed by the Ponca Tribe.

"Neither Elk River Pharmacy not White Eagle Pharmacy purchased any other drugs from Respondent," the Oklahoma agency said in its January 2010 decision against the company. "Respondent did not report these purchases to the Board."

As a result, Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Inc. lost its wholesaler license in Oklahoma, a move that prompted California and other states to do the same. However, the company resurfaced as Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals Plus and tried to sell a lethal injection drug to the state of Nebraska just last month, the Associated Press reported.

“We’re keeping an eye on them,” Cindy Hamilton, the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy’s chief compliance officer, told the AP.

The two pharmacies at issue in Oklahoma were started by Zachary Carl Williams, who was convicted of violating federal drug laws. He convinced the Ponca Tribe to license White Eagle RX and White Eagle Distribution and "transferred" drugs from the Elk River Pharmacy to the new entities, according to a December 2013 decision from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Williams tried to claim sovereign immunity from prosecution under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The 10th Circuit said he failed to explain how he was acting as an agent of the Ponca Tribe.

"Williams was charged with and convicted of a crime in violation of a generally applicable federal statute," the unpublished decision stated. "Williams does not argue that the FDCA is not applicable to him, but rather that he is immune from prosecution. However, he does not explain how the site of the pharmacy, the issuance of a tribal pharmacy license, or the Ponca Tribe’s alleged regulatory authority over the pharmacy would bar his federal criminal prosecution."

The drugs sold by Gulf Coast to Williams are listed as controlled substances by the federal government. Williams never had a valid pharmacists license, according to the indictment against him.

Turtle Talk has posted documents from the 10th Circuit case and the lower court case.

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