The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit Friday accusing Walgreens of filling millions of illegal opioid prescriptions.
In a civil lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by Walgreen Boots Alliance, Walgreen Co. and various of its subsidiaries accuse the pharmacy giant of knowingly filling millions of illegal prescriptions for controlled substances from approximately August 2012 to the present. The lawsuit says Walgreens allegedly filled dangerous and excessive amounts of opioid prescriptions, including early refills, among other prescriptions.
“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 overcharged its pharmacists for controlled substances. , without taking the time necessary to fill prescriptions, including verifying their validity,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department's Civil Division. said in a statement“These practices allowed millions of opioid pills and other controlled substances to flow out of Walgreens stores illegally.”
The complaint alleges that Walgreens pharmacists filled these illegal prescriptions despite obvious “red flags”, and that the pharmacy giant ignored ample evidence from multiple sources that its stores were dispensing illegal prescriptions, including Its own pharmacists and internal data were also involved, the lawsuit claims.
The complaint states that pharmacists were pressured to fill prescriptions quickly without taking the necessary time to verify 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 different whistleblowers, who previously worked for Walgreens in different parts of the country, filed the whistleblower actions.
Walgreens responded to the lawsuit in a statement on its website that wrote it “stands behind our pharmacists, dedicated health care professionals who live in the communities they serve, all by DEA-licensed prescribers.” Fills valid prescriptions for FDA-approved medications written.” Applicable laws and regulations.”
“We look forward to the opportunity to protect the professionalism and integrity of our pharmacists.” The statement said.
Department of Justice last month A similar lawsuit was filed against CVSAlleges that the pharmacy chain filled prescriptions with dangerous and excessive amounts of opioids, agreed to fill opioid prescriptions quickly and created “trinity prescriptions,” a dangerous combination of drugs.
Walgreens is one of the largest pharmacy chains in the country, with more than 8,000 pharmacies across the United States. Plan to close hundreds of stores The company said it would improve its lackluster sales by the end of 2025 and has already closed nearly 2,000 locations over the past decade.