Walgreens and its subsidiaries have agreed to a $300 million settlement to resolve allegations that the national pharmacy chain illegally filled millions of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The complaint also alleges that Walgreens violated the False Claims Act by seeking reimbursement from Medicare and other federal health care programs for many of those unlawful prescriptions.
The settlement amount is based on Walgreens’s ability to pay. The company will owe an additional $50 million if it is sold, merged, or transferred before the end of fiscal year 2032.
“With the power to dispense potentially harmful substances comes the responsibility to ensure that every prescription is legitimate before it is filled,” said U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland.
The complaint also claims that Walgreens pushed its pharmacists to fill prescriptions quickly, often at the expense of verifying whether the prescriptions were legitimate. Compliance officials at the company allegedly ignored clear warning signs that stores were dispensing unlawful prescriptions, and in some cases, intentionally withheld critical information.
As part of the settlement, the United States will dismiss its complaint. Walgreens is also expected to dismiss a related declaratory judgment case filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
“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.
Walgreens has entered into a seven-year memorandum of agreement with the DEA requiring the company to adopt and maintain specific compliance measures. Under the agreement, Walgreens must uphold policies that ensure pharmacists verify the legitimacy of controlled substance prescriptions before dispensing, provide annual training on legal responsibilities, ensure adequate pharmacy staffing, and implement a system to block prescriptions from prescribers known to issue illegitimate prescriptions.
Additionally, Walgreens has signed a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). That agreement requires the company to maintain a comprehensive compliance program, including written policies, employee training, board oversight, and regular reporting to HHS-OIG, specifically related to its handling of controlled substances.
“In the midst of the opioid crisis that has plagued our nation, we rely on pharmacies to prevent, not facilitate the unlawful distribution of these potentially harmful substances,” said Norbert E. Vint, Deputy Inspector General Performing the Duties of the Inspector General at OPM OIG. “We applaud our investigative staff, law enforcement partners, and partners at the Department of Justice for their hard work and unwavering commitment to protecting patients from harm.”
The civil settlement resolves four lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act’s qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions by former Walgreens employees.
