Renewal of Chain Pharmacies and Distributors

In 1997, the Registration Section developed a procedure to simplify the renewal application process for companies that maintain registrations at multiple locations, for example chain pharmacies. The procedure allows corporations to renew all their DEA registrations at the same time, thereby eliminating the need for multiple applications and payments. This simplified application process is available to corporations with 50 or more retail pharmacy registrations or distributors with 10 or more registered locations. You may contact (800) 882-9539 to determine if your company qualifies for chain renewal status.

The following instructions are provided for those who qualify:

Step 1

Provide the following application package to DEA by mail.

1. A compact disc (CD) that contains a list of all existing registrants in your chain including the DEA registration number, name of the registrant, address, city, state, zip code, and current expiration date. The list must be sorted in alpha numeric order by DEA registration number.
2. A cover letter that identifies your company's point of contact with a brief explanation of your request. The letter should include your company's name, address, telephone number and fax number.

Step 2

Upon receipt of your application package, DEA will verify the information you provided with our database. You will be contacted by DEA to resolve any discrepancies.

Step 3

After your application for chain renewal status is approved, your company will be issued a "chain indicator number." DEA will then mail a list of your registered locations that requires your confirmation. An affidavit that serves as a substitute for completing multiple registration applications will be mailed to you along with the total registration fee for the multiple locations.

Step 4

Your company verifies the accuracy of the list of registrations provided by DEA, completes and signs the affidavit, and returns the affidavit to DEA with the correct payment amount.

Step 5

Upon receipt of payment, DEA will assign the new, common, expiration date to all your registrations and mail all the new certificates of registration to your corporate headquarters.

Step 6

Your corporate headquarters must then make copies of the certificates for its records and send the originals to the individual registered locations. Note: If some or all of the registered locations in the chain handle Schedule II controlled substances, then the company headquarters officer that signed the affidavit must provide a power of attorney to a person at the individual registered location(s). This is required so that someone at the individual registered location(s) can sign DEA Official Order Forms when ordering Schedule II controlled substances.