Here's How Many Pain Pills Columbia Pharmacies Receive

COLUMBIA, MD — A new report shows billions of painkillers flowed through nearly 83,000 pharmacies across the country, including many in Columbia. A previously unreleased database managed by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration logged where roughly 70 billion pills containing oxycodone and hydrocodone were shipped to, The Washington Post reported Monday.

While the database doesn’t specify what happened after the pharmacies received the shipments, it does illuminate the sheer number of pills that flooded communities. The data includes numbers from 2006 to 2012, the Post reported. Chain and retail pharmacies were included.

Here’s what the database found for the individual pharmacies:

SEQUON INC COLUMBIA MEDICAL PHARMACY, 5500 KNOLL NORTH DRIVE COLUMBIA MD 21045

618,600 pills were shipped to this pharmacy between 2006 and 2012

About enough for one pill per year for each of the 59,399 people who live within five miles of this pharmacy.

WALGREENS, 5585 TWIN KNOLLS RD COLUMBIA MD 21045

328,550 pills were shipped to this pharmacy between 2006 and 2012

About enough for Less than one pill per year for each of the 63,486 people who live within five miles of this pharmacy

THE MEDICINE SHOPPE, 10451 TWIN RIVERS ROAD SUITE 105 COLUMBIA MD 21044

96,100 pills were shipped to this pharmacy between 2006 and 2012

About enough for Less than one pill per year for each of the 52,112 people who live within five miles of this pharmacy

SAFEWAY PHARMACY, 5485A HARPERS FARM ROAD COLUMBIA MD 21044

689,330 pills were shipped to this pharmacy between 2006 and 2012

About enough for two pills per year for each of the 47,916 people who live within five miles of this pharmacy

SAFEWAY PHARMACY, 5485A HARPERS FARM ROAD COLUMBIA MD 21044

689,330 pills were shipped to this pharmacy between 2006 and 2012

About enough for two pills per year for each of the 47,916 people who live within five miles of this pharmacy

JOHNS HOPKINS PHARMAQUIP, 10710 CHARTER DRIVE SUITE 150 COLUMBIA MD 21044

814,000 pills were shipped to this pharmacy between 2006 and 2012

About enough for two pills per year for each of the 50,528 people who live within five miles of this pharmacy

HOWARD COUNTY GENERAL HOSPITAL, 11085 LITTLE PATUXENT PKY COLUMBIA MD 21044

869,120 pills were shipped to this pharmacy between 2006 and 2012

About enough for two pills per year for each of the 46,189 people who live within five miles of this pharmacy

COLUMBIA HICKORY PHARMACY, 10805 HICKORY RIDGE ROAD SUITE 2 COLUMBIA MD 21044

420,650 pills were shipped to this pharmacy between 2006 and 2012

About enough for one pill per year for each of the 50,407 people who live within five miles of this pharmacy

GIANT PHARMACY 111, 6480 FREETOWN ROAD COLUMBIA MD 21044

1,271,950 pills were shipped to this pharmacy between 2006 and 2012

About enough for three pills per year for each of the 52,341 people who live within five miles of this pharmacy

Five pharmacies in Kentucky, Illinois, Idaho and Kansas received the most painkillers per person each year, the Post found. With a total of nearly 6.8 million pills, Shearer Drug in Clinton County, Kentucky, saw the most pills per person per year at 96.

Areas deluged with pain pills saw far higher death rates related to opioids, the Post found. While the national rate was 4.6 deaths per 100,000 residents, counties that received the most pain pills per person saw rates that were more than three times higher.

Perhaps the most startling finding was that just 15 percent of pharmacies received nearly half of the pain pills.

According to the latest provisional data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were nearly 68,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States last year, a 5 percent decline from 2017. The agency predicted that number will rise to more than 680,000 once all data is reported to them.

In its previous report in July, the Post said 75 percent of the pills distributed in the seven-year period came from six companies with pharmacies: McKesson Corp., Walgreens, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, CVS and Walmart. Four other companies were identified by the paper as being among the top 10 distributors of opioids: Smith Drug Co., Rite Aid, Kroger and H.D. Smith.

Patch national staffers Dan Hampton and Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report