CVS to pay $315 million settlement over opioid prescriptions

CVS also agreed to increased monitoring and oversight of its controlled substances prescribing practices.(CN) — Pharmaceutical giant CVS agreed on Tuesday to a $315 million settlement to resolve federal claims that it was partially responsible for the national opioid crisis by haphazardly filling prescriptions for addictive opioid painkillers from questionable sources.Federal prosecutors claimed many of the illicit fills were done for prescribers who CVS knew to be engaged in so-called “pill mill practices,” loosely prescribing controlled substance prescriptions without a sufficient medical purpose. They said the company, largest pharmaceutical chain in the U.S., then sought payment for many of those invalid prescriptions from Medicare and other federal healthcare programs in violation of the False Claims Act.The government also claimed CVS ignored explicit warnings from their own pharmacists who urged the company not to fill any more scripts from suspicious prescribers.The Rhode Island-based CVS Pharmacy Inc. agreed under the settlement to commit to increased due diligence and proactive monitoring of opioid prescribing patterns.“We’ve implemented best-in-class and first-of-their-kind programs to help our pharmacists make the best decisions on behalf of patients,” a company spokesperson said Tuesday. “We strongly disagree with the claims made in this case, and our settlement with the DOJ admits no wrongdoing. We’re pleased to move forward and put this litigation behind us.”The settlement resolves a December 2024 Justice Department complaint against CVS that said the chain “fed dependence and addiction” on potent opioids when it filled the excessive and unlawful prescriptions, and then sought reimbursements from federal health insurance programs — including Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE — to foot the bill.Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said Tuesday that settlement requires CVS to implement additional safeguards to ensure that prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances are dispensed only when medically appropriate.“The remedial measures in this agreement — including proactive monitoring of opioid prescribing patterns — will provide critical protections for patients and federal healthcare programs,” he said in a Justice Department announcement. “The Department of Justice will continue to take steps to prevent the unlawful dispensing of opioids.”According to federal prosecutors’ 97-page civil complaint, filed in Rhode Island federal court, CVS “knowingly filled prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose, were not valid, and/or were not issued in the usual course of professional practice.”They accused CVS of illegally filling prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, and then sought payment for many of those invalid prescriptions from Medicare and other federal healthcare programs in violation of the False Claims Act, between October 17, 2013 and December 2, 2025.The Justice Department claimed CVS exacerbated the misconduct by understaffing, which “put profit over safety and caused its pharmacies to dispense controlled substances pursuant to invalid prescriptions.”In 2022, CVS previously agreed to pay nearly $5 billion to settle thousands of similar claims made by state and local governments. The company did not admit to any misconduct under the deal.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads