Walgreens has agreed to pay up to $350 million to settle allegations that it knowingly filled millions of unlawful opioid and other controlled-substance prescriptions and submitted false claims to federal health programs, the Justice Department announced April 21.
According to the government, the national pharmacy chain repeatedly dispensed prescriptions without verifying their legitimacy, including prescriptions for opioids in excessive quantities, those filled prematurely, and so-called “trinity” drug combinations commonly associated with abuse.
DOJ said the amount is based on Walgreens’s ability to pay. Under the agreement, Walgreens will pay $300 million—$150 million each to resolve civil claims under the CSA and FCA—with an additional $50 million if the company is sold, merged, or transferred prior to fiscal year 2032.
According to the amended government complaint, Walgreens pharmacists allegedly filled invalid prescriptions even when presented with clear warning signs. In some cases, the prescriptions came from providers known to write unlawful scripts, and Walgreens allegedly pressured pharmacists to prioritize speed over safety while depriving them of tools to verify legitimacy, such as prescriber data and internal alerts.
In total, the United States alleged that Walgreens violated the CSA from October 2013 to March 2023 and the FCA from August 2012 through March 2023.
Walgreens, in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, said it “strongly disagrees with the government’s legal theory and admits no liability.”
“Our pharmacists are dedicated healthcare professionals who care deeply about patient safety and continue to play a critical role in providing education and resources to help combat opioid misuse and abuse across our country,” said Fraser Engerman, senior director of media relations and issues management at Walgreens.
“This resolution allows us to close all opioid-related litigation with federal, state, and local governments and provides us with favorable terms from a cashflow perspective while we focus on our turnaround strategy that will benefit our team members, patients, customers, and shareholders,” Engerman said.
The company did not admit liability under the terms of the agreement, which also resolves four whistleblower lawsuits filed by former employees, the DOJ said. The whistleblowers will receive a 17.25 percent share of the FCA-related recovery.
“This landmark civil settlement is the largest Controlled Substances Act resolution in our district’s history and once again confirms the high priority our office has placed upon confronting those responsible for the opioid crisis here,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe of the Middle District of Florida in the press release.
As part of the settlement, Walgreens entered into a seven-year memorandum of agreement with the DEA and a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). Under the terms, Walgreens must improve compliance policies, provide staff training, monitor problematic prescribers, and maintain systems to block unlawful prescriptions.
“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,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois. “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.”
The civil settlement resolves allegations brought in four separate lawsuits filed by whistleblowers T.J. Novak, Elmer Mosley, K&V Group LLP, and Patrick Awa. All cases were consolidated in federal court in Illinois, where the DOJ intervened last year.
In 2022, Walgreens agreed to pay up to $5.52 billion over 15 years to settle thousands of claims brought by state and local governments. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 727,000 people died from opioid overdoses in the United States between 1999 and 2022.
