Justice Department lawsuit accuses Walgreens of filling millions of unlawful opioid prescriptions
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Friday accusing Walgreens of filling millions of illegal opioid prescriptions.
The civil lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by Walgreen Boots Alliance, Walgreen Co. and its various subsidiaries alleges that from approximately August 2012 to the present, the pharmaceutical giant knowingly prepared millions of controlled doses of Drugs were illegally prescribed. Walgreens allegedly filled dangerous and excessive opioid prescriptions, including filling other prescriptions in advance, the lawsuit said.
“Our complaint alleges that Walgreens pharmacists filled millions of controlled substance prescriptions with clear red flags that indicated the prescriptions were most likely illegal and that Walgreens systematically filled them with Pharmacists were pressured to fill prescriptions, including controlled substance prescriptions, without taking the time to confirm their validity,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, Chief of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division people said in a statement. “These practices allowed millions of opioid pills and other controlled substances to illegally exit Walgreens stores.”
The indictment alleges that Walgreens pharmacists filled the illegal prescriptions despite clear “red flags,” and that the pharmacy giant ignored extensive evidence from multiple sources that its stores were filling illegal prescriptions. Includes evidence from its own pharmacists and internal data.
The complaint alleges that pharmacists were forced to fill prescriptions quickly without taking the time to confirm the validity of each prescription. Walgreens also deprived pharmacists of important information and prevented them from warning each other about certain prescribers.
The statement said four whistleblowers who had worked for Walgreens across the country filed the whistleblower action.
Walgreens responded to the lawsuit in a statement on its website, writing that it “supports our pharmacists, dedicated health care professionals who live in the communities they serve, as licensed by the DEA Prescribers fill legal prescriptions for FDA-approved drugs in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”
“We look forward to the opportunity to defend the professionalism and integrity of our pharmacists,” the statement said.
Last month the Ministry of Justice File similar lawsuit against CVSIt alleges that the pharmacy chain contained dangerous and excessive amounts of opioids in its prescriptions, agreed to fill opioid prescriptions in advance, and issued “trinity prescriptions,” a dangerous combination of drugs.
Walgreens is one of the largest pharmacy chains in the United States, with more than 8,000 pharmacies in the United States Hundreds of stores planned to close The company said it will turn around its weak sales by the end of 2025 and has closed about 2,000 stores over the past decade.
