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The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit this week against Walgreens, alleging that the company knowingly filled illegal recipes for no medical purpose, including opioids.
Walgreens was accused of dispensing millions of illegal prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act and then attempting to obtain federal reimbursement for the prescriptions through various federal health care programs in violation of the Act False Claims Actaccording to a nationwide lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District Illinois.
“With this lawsuit, he wants to maintain himself Walgreens responsible for years of failure to fulfill its obligations to dispense dangerous opioids and other drugs,” Chief Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WBA | WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE INC. | 12.52 | -0.41 |
-3.17% |
Boynton added, “Our complaint alleges that Walgreens pharmacists filled millions of prescriptions for controlled substances with clear red flags indicating that the prescriptions were highly likely to be illegal, and that Walgreens systematically pressured its pharmacists to fill prescriptions, including for controlled substances, without taking the time needed to confirm their validity. These practices allowed millions of opioid pills and other controlled substances to flow out of Walgreens stores.”
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A Walgreens store in Homestead, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The lawsuit alleges that the illegal prescriptions began in August 2012 and continued until now.
“Dangerous and excessive amounts of opioids” and an even more dangerous “combination of drugs known as the ‘trinity,’ consisting of opioids, benzodiazepines and muscle relaxants,” were among the millions of illegal prescriptions, according to the complaint.
It also said the store ignored “substantial evidence” from multiple sources that illegal prescriptions were being issued, “including information from its own pharmacists and internal data.”
Walgreens in response he said that he needed clarification from the court.
Merchandise aisle at a Walgreens store in New York. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“We ask the court to clarify the responsibilities of pharmacies and pharmacists and to protect against government attempts to enforce arbitrary ‘rules’ that do not appear in any law or regulation and have never gone through any formal rulemaking process,” Walgreens said in a statement. Boots Alliance, said in a statement on its website. “We will not stand by and let the government put our pharmacists in a no-win situation by trying to follow ‘rules’ that simply don’t exist.”
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It continues: “Walgreens stands behind our pharmacists, dedicated healthcare professionals who live in the communities they serve, filling legitimate FDA-approved drug prescriptions written by DEA-licensed prescribers in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Walgreens has long been a leader in providing education and resources, as well as implementing best policies and practices to combat opioid misuse and abuse.”
Walgreens added that it “looks forward to the opportunity to defend the professionalism and integrity of our pharmacists.”
