Department of Justice sues CVS alleging illegal opioid dispensing

A lengthy lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice against New England-based pharmacy giant CVS was unsealed Wednesday.

According to the filing, CVS is accused of filling and billing federal health insurance programs for illegal opioid prescriptions. The DOJ says CVS violated both the Controlled Substances Act and the False Claims Act.

“This lawsuit alleges that CVS failed to exercise its critical role as gatekeeper of dangerous prescription opioids and, instead, facilitated the illegal proliferation of these highly addictive drugs, including by pill mill prescribers,” U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha for the District of Rhode Island said in a press release.

Federal authorities claim that CVS knowingly filled prescriptions for controlled substances that weren’t valid, contributing to the nationwide opioid addiction epidemic.

Prosecutors also allege the pharmacy giant filled dangerous quantities of opioids or prescriptions to people known to be engaged in “pill mills.” Pill mills are prescribers who issue large numbers of controlled substance prescriptions without a medical purpose, according to court documents.

The lawsuit claims this behavior has been allowed to continue since 2013.

Among the unlawful prescriptions that CVS allegedly filled from Oct. 17, 2013, to the present were for dangerous and excessive quantities of opioids, early fills of opioids, and “trinity” prescriptions — a dangerous combination of drugs made up of an opioid, a benzodiazepine and a muscle relaxant, according to prosecutors.

In a statement, CVS Health says they’ve been cooperating with the DOJ’s investigation for more than four years and “strongly disagree with the allegations and false narrative” in the lawsuit.

“We will defend ourselves vigorously against this misguided federal lawsuit, which follows on the heels of years of litigation over these issues by state and local governments—claims that already have been largely resolved by a global agreement with the participating state Attorneys General,” the CVS statement read in part.

If CVS is found liable, it could face civil penalties for each unlawful prescription filled and treble damages and other penalties for each prescription reimbursed by federal health care programs.

The full lawsuit can be found below:

Department of Justice sues CVS alleging illegal opioid dispensing by Boston 25 Desk on Scribd

AP Staff Writer Steve LeBlanc contributed to this article.

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