Roughly a week after reports emerged that the pharmacy that has filled prescriptions for the San Diego Chargers has surrendered its license to dispense controlled substances as a result of a DEA investigation, the Chargers have issued on behalf of RSF Pharmaceuticals a statement that raises more questions than it answers.
“We wish to correct mistaken media reports about Dr. David Chao,” said attorney Michael Lipman in the statement distributed by the team. “Dr. Chao did not write prescriptions for himself filled through RSF Pharmaceuticals, and the prescription drugs distributed by RSF Pharmaceuticals to the Chargers were for use by the Chargers medical staff to treat players. Any other interpretation of the records maintained by RSF Pharmaceuticals or reports made by RSF Pharmaceuticals relating to prescription drugs furnished to Dr. Chao is erroneous.
“RSF Pharmaceuticals has served as a pharmacy for many NFL teams, as well as for other sports teams and organizations for many years. The National Football League requires that all its teams prepare their prescription drug audits using software which tracks the distribution of prescription medications. We regret that routine reports provided to regulatory authorities have created the erroneous impression that Dr. Chao had been writing prescriptions for himself which were filled through RSF Pharmaceuticals. To our knowledge, that was never the case.”
It appears that Lipman, and thus RSF Pharmaceuticals, contend that prescriptions reportedly made out to Chao by Chao were intended to facilitate the compilation of the in-house cookie jar of controlled substances that the Chargers (and presumably many other teams) maintain. So, really, it’s a distinction without a difference. Regardless of whether the prescriptions were made out by Chao to Chao or generally to the Chargers for use by players as determined by trainers and/or other doctors, the standard protocol (i.e., doctor prescribes specific medications for specific patients) wasn’t followed.
Indeed, RSF Pharmaceuticals surrendered its license to dispense medications. So the details don’t really matter. And so why did the lawyers and the Chargers feel compelled to draw more attention to an already screwed up situation?