Walmart has been contributing to the prescription opiate crisis for years, in violation of the law, says Justice Department

by

The Justice Department said the civil sanctions it calls for could total billions of dollars and preventative measures.

The department’s complaint, which was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, alleges that a multi-year investigation found that Walmart violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in several ways – both as an operator of its pharmacies and its wholesale trade. drug distribution centers.

“Being one of the largest pharmacy chains and wholesale drug distributors in the country, Walmart had the responsibility and the means to help prevent the diversion of prescription opioids,” said the deputy attorney general of the civil department of the civil division. , Jeffrey Bossert Clark, who claimed that Walmart had “done the opposite” for years.

In response, Walmart (WMT) he criticized the Justice Department for inventing “a legal theory that illegally forces pharmacists to meet between patients and their doctors” and use “documents picked from cherries taken out of context.”

The Justice Department claimed that Walmart “knowingly filled thousands of prescriptions that were not released for legitimate medical purposes” at its pharmacies, according to the department’s statement. In addition, the complaint mentions Walmart’s alleged failure to report hundreds of thousands of suspicious orders to the Drug Enforcement Agency. The Justice Department noted that Walmart distribution centers “have stopped distributing controlled substances in 2018.”

“Unlike DEA’s own failures, Walmart has always empowered our pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for problem opioids and they have refused to fill hundreds of thousands of such prescriptions,” Walmart said in a statement. “Walmart has sent DEA tens of thousands of investigations, and we have blocked thousands of questionable doctors from filling their opioid prescriptions at our pharmacies.”

The Justice Department has been monitoring the companies it considers responsible for the country’s opioid crisis.

Two months ago, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, agreed to plead guilty to three federal criminal charges for its role in widespread abuse of painkillers. As part of the deal, Purdue Pharma also agreed to pay more than $ 8 billion and close the company.

.Source