Walgreens agrees to $300M settlement for illegal prescriptions

Walgreens agreed to pay $300 million to resolve allegations that the pharmacy chain illegally filled millions of opioid and controlled substance prescriptions, according to a Monday statement from the Department of Justice. Investigators also accused the company and its subsidiaries of seeking reimbursements for the invalid prescriptions from federal healthcare programs, according to investigators. The settlement amount was brokered based on what Walgreens could pay, but the company will owe an additional $50 million if it comes under new ownership before 2032.

Prosecutors alleged that for over a decade, Walgreens pharmacists ignored red flag warning signs that prescriptions were being abused, like filling orders without a legitimate medical need or orders that a professional medical practitioner typically wouldn’t issue. Other warning signs included filling prescriptions with excessive quantities of opioids, filling opioid orders prematurely, and filling orders for drug combinations known to be abused together.

How did pharmacists across the country do this in tandem? Investigators alleged that Walgreens’ corporate office pressured pharmacists to work faster and skip protocols that would have flagged the prescriptions as potentially illegal. The company then ignored serious evidence that stores were dispensing illegal prescriptions and intentionally withheld information about prescribers from pharmacists, according to the DOJ.

The settlement also resolved four whistleblower cases against Walgreens. The company agreed to enact a number of compliance measures in the coming years, including procedures requiring pharmacists to verify the authenticity of controlled substance prescriptions and keep a system for blocking prescriptions from flagged prescribers.