U.S. Sues Firm Over Sale of ‘Cat Valium’

Federal authorities sued a Redondo Beach distributor of medical and veterinary supplies Thursday, accusing the company of negligently selling thousands of vials of ketamine--an animal tranquilizer similar to PCP--to a bogus veterinary clinic.

The civil complaint seeks $520,000 in penalties from D-V Medical Supply and its president, Neal Hyams, for failing to keep records and inform the Drug Enforcement Administration about the suspiciously large sales.

Ketamine, which is legitimately used to sedate animals, has become an increasingly popular illicit drug abused by young people at rave parties and nightclubs.

Known on the street as “Vitamin K,” “Special K” or “cat Valium,” it can cause hallucinations, delirium, impaired motor function and sometimes fatal respiratory problems.

It also has been used as a date rape drug because its effects can include inability to move or feel pain.

Hyams, 47, of Manhattan Beach, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

According to the civil complaint, D-V Medical Supply sold 38,454 vials of ketamine for $338,394 between 1999 and 2000 to Gilberto Lopez, who claimed to operate the Otay Vet Clinic in San Diego County. No such clinic existed, however, and Lopez was not licensed to practice veterinary medicine in California, the lawsuit says.

D-V Medical Supply mailed the ketamine vials to Lopez at a San Diego post office box and never required him to supply a DEA authorization number, a valid veterinary license or a street address for the Otay Vet Clinic, according to the suit.

Moreover, authorities said, D-V Medical Supply continued to supply Lopez after being advised that previous shipments to Otay Vet Clinic had wound up on the illegal drug market.

The diversion was discovered when Illinois State Police arrested a man driving from San Diego to Massachusetts in a rented Cadillac containing 28 cases of ketamine, worth more than $1 million on the street.

The DEA traced the drug manufacturer’s lot numbers back to D-V Medical Supply and to Lopez.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Donna C. Maizel said no criminal charges are contemplated against D-V Medical Supply or Hyams.

Lopez, who is living in Mexico, has not been criminally charged, “but certainly we’d very much like to talk to him,” Maizel said.