Walgreens Lawsuit Results in $350 Million Opioid Settlement
Walgreens, the American Pharmaceutical giant reached a legal settlement with the United States Department of Justice. The company was accused of illegally filling prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances. As a result of this Walgreens Lawsuit the company will pay up to 350 million USD. it will also be subject to pay a further 50 million USD if the company is sold before 2032.
The Charges and Response
The opioid epidemic has been a hot topic amongst both the US government and the American public for some time. The Justice department filed its complaint against Walgreens back in January. They alleged that Walgreens filed millions of prescriptions for excessive amounts of opioids and other substances. There was also the accusation that prescriptions were filled much earlier than they should have been.
While Walgreens did not accept the validity of the accusations they did agree to the payment for other reasons.Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman said in his statement: “We strongly disagree with the government’s legal theory and admit no liability,” .“This resolution allows us to close all opioid related litigation with federal, state, and local governments and provides us with favorable terms from a cash flow perspective while we focus on our turnaround strategy.”
Attorney General Pamela Bondi had a very different point of view “ Pharmacies have a legal responsibility to prescribe controlled substances in a safe and professional manner, not dispense dangerous drugs just for profit,” “This Department of Justice is committed to ending the opioid crisis and holding bad actors accountable for their failure to protect patients from addiction.”
The Walgreens lawsuit was not the first of its kind. As over 50 million USD has been acquired in similar settlements over the last eight years. The vast majority of this settlement money being used to fight the opioid crisis.
Source
CNN – Walgreens to pay up to $350 million in US opioid settlement
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