Crime & Law
Walgreens Agrees to Pay $300M to Settle Opioid Lawsuit Claims
Walgreens headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois. (JHVEPhoto / iStock)
As part of a settlement with the U.S. government, Walgreens, one of the largest pharmacy chains in the country, has agreed to pay at least $300 million to settle claims it illegally filled millions of invalid opioid prescriptions.
That settlement comes after a complaint filed in Chicago’s federal court early this year alleged Walgreens pharmacists filled illegal prescriptions for excessive quantities of opioids and prescriptions for a particularly dangerous combination that includes opioids, benzodiazepine and carisoprodol, known as a “trinity.”
The Justice Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General jointly announced the settlement Monday.
“Importantly, Walgreens’s agreements with the DEA and HHS-OIG provide swift relief in the form of monitoring and claims review that will improve Walgreens’s practices immediately,” Andrew Boutros, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said in a statement. “Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that opioids are properly dispensed and that taxpayer funds are only spent on legitimate pharmacy claims.”
According to the feds, the settlement amount will jump another $50 million in the event Walgreens is sold, merged or transferred prior to 2032.
The federal complaint alleged Walgreens pharmacists filled these opioid prescriptions despite “clear red flags” and a high likelihood that the prescriptions were invalid because they lacked a legitimate medical purpose or were not issued in the usual course of professional practice.
Walgreens also allegedly pressured pharmacists to quickly fill those prescriptions without first confirming that each prescription was lawful, according to the complaint, while company compliance officials allegedly ignored “substantial evidence” that its stores were dispensing unlawful prescriptions.
“This settlement resolves allegations that, for years, Walgreens failed to meet its obligations when dispensing dangerous opioids and other drugs,” Michael Granston, deputy assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement. “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.”
Through the agreement, the feds agreed to dismiss their complaint against Walgreens, which continues to deny the government’s allegations while noting the settlement is not an admission of liability on the company’s behalf.
Walgreens in 2022 agreed to pay around $5 billion to settle multiple other opioid-related lawsuits.
