WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration announced a $50 million settlement with Walmart Inc. on charges that the retailer's pharmacies illegally filled thousands of invalid opioid prescriptions for years.
The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, resolves allegations that Walmart violated the Controlled Substances Act starting June 26, 2013. The lawsuit was originally filed Dec. 22, 2020, and amended in 2022.
According to court documents, Walmart's compliance team knew certain prescribers operated as "pill mills" but allowed invalid prescriptions from those doctors to be filled anyway. Walmart pharmacists submitted thousands of "refusal-to-fill" forms to the compliance team flagging problematic prescribing patterns, but the team deprioritized the reports.
In one email, a compliance director wrote that "driving sales and patient awareness" was "a far better use of our Market Directors and Market manager's time" than analyzing refusal-to-fill reports. Individual Walmart pharmacists also filled prescriptions they knew were illegitimate.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said the settlement reflected the government's commitment to holding companies accountable. "Congress enacted laws to promote responsibility and accountability for companies who dispense controlled substances to protect Americans," Woodward said. "We will vigorously enforce compliance, ensuring profits do not justify aiding the opioid epidemic."
DEA Assistant Administrator Cheri Oz said the $50 million penalty makes clear that pharmacies must identify and prevent unlawful dispensing. "Filling illegitimate opioid prescriptions endangers patients and communities," Oz said.
The settlement allows Walmart to avoid a potentially larger financial penalty. News reports indicated the company had faced the possibility of a billion-dollar payout.
