This Bartell Drug at 9010 Market Place in Lake Stevens sold more opioid pills than any other pharmacy in Snohomish County from 2006-12, according to a Washington Post analysis of Drug Enforcement Administration data. (Joseph Thompson / The Herald)

This Bartell Drug at 9010 Market Place in Lake Stevens sold more opioid pills than any other pharmacy in Snohomish County from 2006-12, according to a Washington Post analysis of Drug Enforcement Administration data. (Joseph Thompson / The Herald)

DEA data show county was hit hard by prescription opioids

More than 220 million opioid pills flooded in between 2006 and 2012.

LAKE STEVENS — Off Highway 9 in Lake Stevens and across from the Haggen’s grocery sits a Bartell Drugs. It has the same red-and-white signs as any other. But what sets this drugstore apart is just that — drugs.

Between 2006 and 2012, the store sold more than five million prescription opioids, more than any other pharmacy in the county and 21st statewide. That’s enough to give each Lake Stevens resident 26 pills per year.

[See a map of the top five Snohomish County pharmacies for opioid sales]

Then take I-5 north to Arlington. Off Smokey Point Boulevard, you’ll find Rite Aid, which ranked second in the number of opioids prescribed countywide. The pharmacy sold more than 5 million pills in the seven-year period. The city’s population is less than 20,000.

Then travel east to Granite Falls. Local pharmacy Pharm-A-Save filled orders for 3.5 million opioid pills in the same span. For the town of about 3,300, the single distributor provided an average of 150 pills a year per person.

All of this is according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration data analyzed by The Washington Post. The Post made the data available in mid-July after gaining access to the DEA’s Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System, known as ARCOS. The Post and HD Media, which publishes the Charleston Gazette-Mail in West Virginia, fought in court for a year to get access to the database.

In total, more than 220 million prescription opioids were sold in Snohomish County in the seven-year period. More than half the pills were manufactured by SpecGx, a UK-based generic drug maker.

The pills flooded into the county at a time when the number of opioid-related overdose deaths nationwide soared, ravaging communities large and small. While the numbers continue to rise in some regions of the country, Washington is beginning to see a decline in both the number of opioid prescriptions and opioid-related deaths, according to state Department of Health data.

Bartell Drugs Vice President of Pharmacies Billy Chau said a lot has changed since 2012, including the implementation of a state program designed to track the prescription and use of opioid-based drugs, and make that information available to health care providers, practitioners and law enforcement. It’s meant to make sure doctors and pharmacists are on the same page when giving and filling prescriptions and to prevent practices like doctor shopping, where patients receive prescriptions from multiple doctors. The tool, authorized by the Legislature in 2007, went active in January 2012.

“Before the launch of the Prescriptions Monitoring Program, we didn’t know if a patient was filling their prescription somewhere else,” Chau said. “It’s incumbent on us to vet out whether these are legitimate prescriptions and if these are being given out for legitimate reasons. We want that collaboration to treat our patients as best as we can.”

Wisconsin, Nebraska and Missouri are the only states without a similar drug-monitoring program.

Walgreens, which operates 10 stores in Snohomish County, also ranked among top providers of opioids with a branch in Lynnwood and another in Everett ranking third and fifth in the numbers of pills dispensed.

A statement from the company said it’s followed all legal requirements to sell the prescription opioids legally.

Statewide, five of the top 10 pharmacies filling opioid prescriptions were Kaiser Permanente branches. Kaiser Permanente operates as both doctor and pharmacist for its patients. Spokeswoman Julie Popper said the company has 700,000 patients in Washington and pill numbers don’t reflect the size of their operation.

The company’s Everett medical center dispensed the fourth highest number of opioids countywide between 2006 and 2012. Since then, the company has seen a 52 percent decrease in high-dosage opioid prescriptions in the state, Popper said. The number of opioid prescriptions filled by Kaiser in Everett has dropped by 32 percent since January.

Popper also cited the Everett branch’s in-office treatment program. Those who struggle with opioid addiction are paired with a nurse who navigates the services each patient needs. Everett is the only Kaiser facility in the state offering the program.

Chau said manufacturers, doctors and pharmacists all played roles in the influx of pills.

“If we’re looking at an opioid prescription for somebody that is just starting on a chronic pain-management program, and if we felt the dosage was too high, we’d contact the doctor and ask why the patient needs that dose,” he said. “If there is a concern and the doctor was not aware the prescription was too strong or too much, there’s oftentimes a change when it’s warranted. We’re the medications experts and they’re the diagnosis experts.”

In January 2017, the city of Everett filed a civil lawsuit against Purdue Pharma for allowing OxyContin to be funneled through the black market, causing what it described as an opioid crisis in Everett. Others followed, including Snohomish County government earlier this year.

Joseph Thompson: 425-339-3430; jthompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @byjoeythompson.

Opioid pills sold per capita

The average number of opioid pills sold per resident between 2006 and 2012. Based on data from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the number of pills sold in each city was averaged to an annual basis and divided by the city’s 2012 population.

Granite Falls 197
Stanwood 194
Snohomish 151
Arlington 134
Lynnwood 108
Monroe 99
Darrington 84
Bothell 83
Everett 77
Marysville 63
Lake Stevens 59
Edmonds 58
Mill Creek 48
Mountlake Terrace 39
Mukilteo 28

Talk to us

More in Local News

Two snowboarders head up the mountain in a lift chair on the opening day of ski season at Stevens Pass Ski Area on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, near Skykomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ski season delayed at Stevens Pass due to minimal snow

Resort originally planned to open Dec. 1. But staff are hopeful this week’s snow will allow guests to hit the slopes soon.

Siblings Qingyun, left, and Ruoyun Li, 12 and 13, respectively, are together on campus at Everett Community College on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, in Everett, Washington. The two are taking a full course load at the community college this semester. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Siblings, age 12 and 13, are youngest students at EvCC campus

Qingyun Li was 11 when he scored a perfect 36 on the ACT test. His sister, Ruoyun, was one point away.

Edmond’s newly elected mayor Mike Rosen on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mayor-elect Rosen wants to ‘make Edmonds politics boring again’

Mike Rosen handily defeated incumbent Mayor Mike Nelson. He talked with The Herald about how he wants to gather the “full input” of residents.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Traffic cameras, and tickets, come to Edmonds; Mukilteo could be next

New school zone cameras in Edmonds will begin operating in January. Mukilteo is considering enforcement cameras as well.

A person walks their dog along a flooded Old Snohomish Monroe Road on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Flood-resistant floors and sandbags are price of riverside life in Sultan

Flooding is a threat every year for 75,000 locals — and the long-term forecast suggests it’ll only get worse in the coming decades.

Everett Community College is introducing a new Trojan design as the college's symbol of student spirit and athletics. The design incorporates the Feather Star, EvCC's official logo, in the Trojan's cape.  (Dan Bates / The Herald)
Amid staffing crisis, student nurses run into shortages in education too

Everett Community College’s nursing program has 79 slots. Hundreds apply each year — and that’s just the first hurdle.

A family walks through the Wintertide lights Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, at Legion Park in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Wintertide Lights returns for the month of December in Everett

The free family event is open nightly at Evergreen Arboretum and Gardens in Legion Park.

An order is delivered to one of the first cars at Chick-Fil-A's store in Marysville on its opening day Thursday on May 21, 2020. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
Chicken with a side of traffic: Everett Mall Chick-fil-A opens Dec. 7

The new Everett Mall Way restaurant is the popular chain’s fifth Snohomish County location. Openings often cause traffic backups.

A suspected gas explosion on Wednesday destroyed a house in the 19700 block of 25TH DR SE in Bothell, Washington. (Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue)
‘Gas explosion’ destroys Bothell house; no injuries

A vacant home blew up Wednesday in the 19700 block of 25th Drive SE, throwing a garage door across the street.

Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the 196th ST SW Improvement Project near the 196th and 44th Ave West intersection in Lynnwood, Washington on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Jarred by anti-Semitic rants, Lynnwood council approves tax increase

Three people spewed hate speech via Zoom at a council meeting this week. Then, the council moved on to regular business.

From the patrol car footage of Everett police officer Ryan Greely, Molly Wright sits in the back of a police car after being arrested for obstructing a law enforcement officer on Aug. 10, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Screenshot from a video provided by Molly Wright)
‘My rights were violated’: Everett officer arrests woman filming him

Ryan Greely arrested Molly Wright in August on charges of obstructing, though state law generally allows filming police in public.

The Days Inn on Everett Mall Way, which Snohomish County is set to purchase and convert into emergency housing, is seen Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Over $130M for affordable housing set to be approved by County Council

The five-year investment plan of the 0.1% sales tax aims to construct 550 new affordable units.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.