Justice Department Sues Walmart Over Opioid Prescriptions
The U.S. Office of Justice has submitted a civil criticism from Walmart more than its function in the opioid crisis, alleging unlawful perform by the firm resulted in hundreds of thousands of violations of the Controlled Substances Act.
In a statement, the Justice Office stated Walmart knowingly filled thousands of controlled substance prescriptions that have been not issued for genuine professional medical functions. It also alleged that the firm failed to report suspicious orders to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
“As a single of the most significant pharmacy chains and wholesale drug distributors in the nation, Walmart experienced the accountability and the means to aid avoid the diversion of prescription opioids,” Acting Assistant Lawyer Standard of the Civil Division Jeffrey Bossert Clark stated. “Instead, for years, it did the opposite — filling thousands of invalid prescriptions at its pharmacies and failing to report suspicious orders of opioids and other drugs positioned by all those pharmacies. This unlawful perform contributed to the epidemic of opioid abuse all through the United States.
The DOJ stated Walmart confronted civil penalties of $sixty seven,627 for each individual unlawful prescription filled and $fifteen,691 for each individual suspicious get.
In a statement Walmart stated the match was an endeavor to shift blame absent from the DEA, which had failed to keep “bad doctors” from prescribing hazardous drugs improperly.
“The Justice Department’s investigation is tainted by historical ethics violations, and this lawsuit invents a legal idea that unlawfully forces pharmacists to arrive concerning individuals and their health professionals and is riddled with factual inaccuracies and cherry-picked paperwork taken out of context,” the firm stated.
Walmart stated it blocked thousands of questionable health professionals and sent “tens of thousands” of investigative potential customers to the DEA.
In Oct, the DOJ introduced it experienced fixed its criminal and civil investigations into Purdue Pharma and associates of the Sackler spouse and children, makers of the potent painkiller OxyContin. That settlement provided $8 billion in penalties and responsible pleas to three felonies.