Wholesaler can keep selling controlled drugs, judge says

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) - A federal judge in Louisiana says the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has created "an imminent danger to public health or safety" by suspending a wholesaler's license to sell controlled drugs.

U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Foote handed down a temporary order late Tuesday to return the licenses and any confiscated drugs to Morris & Dickson Co. LLC of Shreveport.

Her order says that the incomplete record showed substantial likelihood that the company can prove the DEA acted arbitrarily and capriciously.

Company President Paul Dickson says the company is back to full operation Wednesday and tens of thousands of patients can get desperately needed medications.

Foote held a hearing Tuesday and scheduled another May 22.

The company said it has customers in Louisiana, Texas and 15 nearby states.