DOJ settles with Walgreens for $300M

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Justice, together with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, have agreed to a $300 million settlement with Walgreens Boots Alliance, Walgreen Co., and various subsidiaries to resolve allegations that the national chain pharmacy illegally filled millions of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). 

Further, Walgreens is alleged to have then sought payment for many of those invalid prescriptions by Medicare and other federal health care programs in violation of the False Claims Act.  

The government’s complaint, filed on Jan. 16 and amended April 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleges that from approximately August 2012 through March 1, 2023, Walgreens, one of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains, knowingly filled millions of unlawful controlled substance prescriptions. These unlawful prescriptions included prescriptions for excessive quantities of opioids and opioid prescriptions filled significantly early. Walgreens pharmacists allegedly filled these prescriptions despite clear red flags indicating 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.  

The complaint further alleges that Walgreens pressured its pharmacists to fill prescriptions quickly and without taking the time needed to confirm that each prescription was lawful.  

In light of the settlement, the United States has moved to dismiss its complaint. Walgreens will also move to dismiss a related declaratory judgment action filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.