Here's How Many Pain Pills Redondo Beach Pharmacies Receive

REDONDO BEACH, CA — A new report shows billions of painkillers flowed through nearly 83,000 pharmacies across the country, including many in Redondo Beach. 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 81 pharmacies within five miles of Redondo Beach received 45,626,818 pills from 2006 to 2012.

Here’s what the database found for the individual pharmacies in Redondo Beach:

SOUTH BAY PHARMACY

• Address: 520 NORTH PROSPECT AVE SUITE 110 REDONDO BEACH CA 90277
• Pills received: 2,076,120

LONGS DRUG STORES CALIFORNIA

• Address: 1880 S PACIFIC COAST HWY REDONDO BEACH CA 90277
• Pills received: 678,120

PILL BOX DRUG

• Address: 165 PALOS VERDES BLVD REDONDO BEACH CA 90277
• Pills received: 2,677,090

VILLAGE PHARMACY

• Address: 1708 S CATALINA AVE REDONDO BEACH CA 90277
• Pills received: 57,400

WALGREENS

• Address: 535 S PACIFIC COAST HWY REDONDO BEACH CA 90277
• Pills received: 1,111,600

RITE AID

• Address: 401 NORTH PACIFIC COAST HWY REDONDO BEACH CA 90277
• Pills received: 749,120

GARFIELD BEACH CVS

• Address: 316 SOUTH PACIFIC COAST HWY REDONDO BEACH CA 90277
• Pills received: 509,700

SUNNY BAY PHARMACY

• Address: 500 TORRANCE BLVD REDONDO BEACH CA 90277
• Pills received: 828,900

THE VONS COMPANIES INC

• Address: 4001 INGLEWOOD AVENUE REDONDO BEACH CA 90278
• Pills received: 471,930

RALPHS GROCERY CO

• Address: 1413 HAWTHORNE BLVD REDONDO BEACH CA 90278
• Pills received: 892,240

TARGET STORES A DIV.OF TARGET CORP.

• Address: 1601 KINGSDALE AVE REDONDO BEACH CA 90278
• Pills received: 377,230

WALGREENS

• Address: 2321 HAWTHORNE BLVD REDONDO BEACH CA 90278
• Pills received: 125,970

KOVACS FREY PHARMACY

• Address: 2860 ARTESIA BLVD REDONDO BEACH CA 90278
• Pills received: 339,400

NEW ALBERTSON'S

• Address: 2115 ARTESIA BLVD REDONDO BEACH CA 90278
• Pills received: 633,400

RITE AID

• Address: 1720 AVIATION BOULEVARD REDONDO BEACH CA 90278
• Pills received: 1,145,430

ARTESIA PHARMACY

• Address: 2301 ARTESIA BLVD 11A REDONDO BEACH CA 90278
• Pills received: 95,820

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 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 staffers Dan Hampton and Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report.