CVS paying $450k fine in prescription painkiller case

CVS HEALTH Corp. has agreed to pay $450,000 to resolve allegations that several of its Rhode Island stores violated the federal Controlled Substances Act by filling invalid prescriptions and maintaining deficient records.
CVS HEALTH Corp. has agreed to pay $450,000 to resolve allegations that several of its Rhode Island stores violated the federal Controlled Substances Act by filling invalid prescriptions and maintaining deficient records.

PROVIDENCE – CVS Health Corp. has agreed to pay $450,000 to resolve allegations that several of its Rhode Island stores violated the federal Controlled Substances Act by filling invalid prescriptions and maintaining deficient records.

The civil settlement was announced Monday by U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Michael J. Ferguson, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England Field Division.

The settlement marks the end of an investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Rhode Island and the DEA Office of Diversion Control of CVS’ conduct at its Rhode Island retail pharmacy locations in filling prescriptions for various controlled substances with a high potential for abuse, according to a press release from the federal Department of Justice.

Under the Controlled Substances Act and its implementing regulations, substances such as painkillers and opioids can only be prescribed for legitimate medical purposes by a physician, the release stated.

- Advertisement -

CVS, while acknowledging that its pharmacists bear a corresponding responsibility under the Controlled Substances Act, has denied wrongdoing in this case.

The United States alleged that CVS retail pharmacies in Rhode Island filled a number of forged prescriptions with invalid DEA numbers, and filled multiple prescriptions written by psychiatric nurse practitioners for the opioid painkiller hydrocodone, despite the fact that these practitioners were not legally permitted to prescribe these drugs. Additionally, the government alleged that CVS had record-keeping deficiencies, according to the release.

“It should come as no surprise to any Rhode Island citizen – individual or corporate – that diversion and misuse of prescription painkillers are a public health crisis in the State of Rhode Island,” U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha said in a statement. “This crisis demands that all citizens – individual and corporate – act responsibly when it comes to the dispensing of controlled substances.”

No posts to display