Walgreens Stock Tumbles on DOJ Lawsuit Over ‘Millions’ of Alleged Illegal Prescriptions | Global News Avenue

Walgreens Boots Alliance (world boxing association) shares fell on Tuesday, their first trading day since the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a lawsuit on Friday accusing the pharmacy chain of dispensing “millions of illegal prescriptions” without legitimate medical claims. Purpose.

The lawsuit alleges that Walgreens pressured its pharmacists to fill prescriptions quickly, resulting in prescriptions for opioids and other drugs with “clear red flags” indicating they were “highly likely to be illegal.”

The Justice Department alleges that Walgreens, starting in or around August 2012, issued prescriptions that had no medical basis, were invalid, or were “not issued in the ordinary course of professional practice.” These illegal prescriptions would contravene the Controlled Substances Act and any prescription would be a breach of the Controlled Substances Act. walgreens Receiving compensation from federal health care programs would violate the False Claims Act.

Walgreens says lawsuit ‘attempts to enforce arbitrary ‘rules’

Walgreens said Friday it supports pharmacists as the government works to put them in a “win-win situation.” The chain called the lawsuit an “attempt to enforce arbitrary ‘rules’ that do not appear in any law or regulation.”

The Justice Department said whistleblowers from four former Walgreens employees complained about the prescriptions. The agency accuses Walgreens of helping “fuel” the prescription opioid epidemic, leading to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths across the country.

Walgreens shares fell more than 12% It closed Tuesday at $10.95, losing some of its earlier gains. Retailers’ Latest Earnings Reports earlier this month. But the stock has lost half its value in the past year.