The Department of Justice (DOJ) has sued CVS Health, accusing the pharmaceutical giant of contributing to the opioid crisis by knowingly filling unlawful prescriptions to boost corporate performance metrics.
“The practices alleged contributed to the opioid crisis and opioid-related deaths, and today’s complaint seeks to hold CVS accountable for its misconduct,” Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in a statement.
In the civil complaint unsealed Wednesday, the government alleges that the company knowingly filled prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose from Oct. 17, 2023, to the present day.
Officials believe that low staffing levels amid a lack of information made pharmacists susceptible to faulty prescribers who issued fake prescriptions.
“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,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha for the District of Rhode Island, where the complaint arose.
“When corporations such as CVS prize profits over patient safety and overburden their pharmacy staff so that they cannot carry out the basic responsibility of ensuring that prescriptions are legitimate, we will use every tool at our disposal to see that they answer for it,” he added.
