46 Million Painkillers Flooded Massapequa-Area Pharmacies

MASSAPEQUA, NY — Billions of painkillers flowed through nearly 83,000 pharmacies across the country, including many in Massapequa. 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.

The database said 70 pharmacies within five miles of Massapequa received nearly 46 million pills from 2006 to 2012. The area has a population of about 230,000.

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

ARLO DRUG STORE OF LONG ISLAND

1022 PARK BLVD, MASSAPEQUA PARK, NY 11762

Pills received: 2.1 million

JOHN & FRANCO DRUGS

681 BROADWAY, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 2 million

CVS ALBANY

20 BROADWAY, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 1 million

WALGREENS

4360 SUNRISE HWY, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 631,920

WALDBAUM

5508 SUNRISE HIGHWAY, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 304,700

WAL-MART PHARMACY 10-5068

200 SUNRISE MALL, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 801,380

WALDBAUM

702 HICKSVILLE RD, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 378,200

DUANE READE

4250 JERUSALEM AVENUE NORTH, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 269,600

SAV WELL DRUGS INC

1338 HICKSVILLE RD, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 520,620

RITE AID PHARMACY #10647

33 37 HICKSVILLE ROAD, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 318,890

R & R DRUG CO

4638 MERRICK RD, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 441,740

RITE AID

5125 MERRICK ROAD, MASSAPEQUA PARK, NY 11762

Pills received: 172,000

DUANE READE

901 CARMANS ROAD, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 792,800

PATHMARK STORES

941 CARMANS RD, MASSAPEQUA, NY 11758

Pills received: 161,000

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 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 staffer Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report.