WASHINGTON, D.C. – Walgreens Boots Alliance, which operates pharmacies around the globe, agreed to pay up to $350 million to settle allegations that it illegally filled millions of invalid opioid prescriptions and sought reimbursement from taxpayers through Medicare.
The Justice Department announced the settlement Monday. The deal requires Walgreens to pay $300 million and another $50 million if the company is sold, merged, or transferred before fiscal year 2032. The agreement covers allegations from August 2012 to March 1, 2023.
The federal complaint, filed on Jan. 16 and amended April 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleges that Walgreens knowingly filled millions of unlawful controlled substance prescriptions over that period. These unlawful prescriptions included prescriptions for excessive quantities of opioids, opioid prescriptions filled significantly early, and prescriptions for the combination of three drugs known as a “trinity” – an opioid, a benzodiazepine, and a skeletal muscle relaxant, especially carisoprodol. The trinity combination is considered especially dangerous because each of the medications depresses the central nervous system and the ability to breathe.
Walgreens denied wrongdoing in a statement.
“We strongly disagree with the government’s legal theory and admit no liability. Our pharmacists are dedicated healthcare professionals who care deeply about patient safety and continue to play a critical role in providing education and resources to help combat opioid misuse and abuse across our country,” the statement said. “This resolution allows us to close all opioid related litigation with federal, state, and local governments and provides us with favorable terms from a cashflow perspective while we focus on our turnaround strategy that will benefit our team members, patients, customers, and shareholders.”
Prosecutors said Walgreens pharmacists allegedly filled these prescriptions despite clear red flags indicating a high likelihood that the prescriptions were invalid because they lacked a legitimate medical purpose.
“Pharmacies have a legal responsibility to prescribe controlled substances in a safe and professional manner, not dispense dangerous drugs just for profit,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. “This Department of Justice is committed to ending the opioid crisis and holding bad actors accountable for their failure to protect patients from addiction.”
Prosecutors alleged that Walgreens pressured pharmacists to fill prescriptions quickly and without taking the time needed to confirm that each prescription was lawful. The complaint also alleged Walgreens’s compliance officials ignored evidence that its stores were dispensing unlawful prescriptions and even intentionally deprived its own pharmacists of crucial information, including by refusing to share internal data regarding prescribers with pharmacists and preventing pharmacists from warning one another about certain problematic prescribers.
Prosecutors moved to dismiss the federal complaint after reaching a deal Friday with Walgreens, which operates 12,500 retail locations across the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. The DOJ said Walgreens will also move to dismiss a related declaratory judgment action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
“This settlement resolves allegations that, for years, Walgreens failed to meet its obligations when dispensing dangerous opioids and other drugs,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Granston of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will continue to hold accountable those entities and individuals whose actions contributed to the opioid crisis, whether through illegal prescribing, marketing, dispensing or distributing activities.”
On top of the monetary settlement, Walgreens entered into agreements with Drug Enforcement Agency and Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to address its future obligations in dispensing controlled substances.
Walgreens and DEA entered into a memorandum of agreement that requires the company to implement and maintain specific compliance measures for the next seven years. The company must maintain policies and procedures requiring pharmacists to confirm the validity of controlled substance prescriptions before dispensing controlled substances, provide annual training to pharmacy employees regarding their legal obligations relating to controlled substances, verify that pharmacy staffing is sufficient to enable pharmacy employees to comply with those legal obligations, and maintain a system for blocking prescriptions from prescribers whom Walgreens becomes aware are writing illegitimate controlled substance prescriptions.
Walgreens also entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with HHS-OIG, which requires Walgreens to establish and maintain a compliance program that includes written policies and procedures, training, board oversight, and periodic reporting to HHS-OIG related to Walgreens’s dispensing of controlled substances, according to the DOJ.
“Pharmacies have an obligation to ensure that every prescription for highly addictive controlled substances is legitimate and issued responsibly in compliance with the Controlled Substances Act,” DEA Acting Administrator Derek Maltz said. “When one of the nation’s largest pharmacies fails at this obligation, they jeopardize the health and safety of their customers and place the American public in danger. The DEA remains committed to protecting all Americans from unscrupulous practices that prioritize profit over patient safety.”
This article was written By Brett Rowland and originally published by The Center Square. It is republished here with permission.