CVS paying $315M to settle charges over opioid prescriptions

CVS Pharmacy Inc. agreed Tuesday to pay $315 million to resolve charges that it illegally filled unlawful opioid prescriptions and other controlled substances. The chain of pharmacies also submitted false claims to the federal government, according to the Department of Justice.

CVS disputes the governments’ allegations and its settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing, the chain told Reuters.

The payment resolves allegations of violating the Controlled Substances Act from 2013 to 2025.  CVS also sought payment for invalid prescriptions from Medicare and other federal healthcare programs, allegedly violating the False Claims Act, or FCA. The civil settlement resolves a civil lawsuit led by Hillary Estright, a former CVS employee, under the whistleblower provision of the FCA. 

What will change? Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said that the settlement requires CVS to implement additional safeguards to ensure that these prescriptions are dispensed only when medically appropriate. For example, he said that CVS must implement proactive monitoring of opioid prescribing patterns.