Walgreens pharmacy chains contributed to the opioid epidemic for 15 years by failing to question suspicious orders for the addictive drugs, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled.
In a joint suit against drug manufacturers and distributors, the city had sued Walgreens in 2018 for their part in creating a “public nuisance” by not investigating excessive numbers of orders to the tune of hundreds of thousands of prescriptions, and by “failing to prevent the drugs from being diverted for illegal use.”
California federal judge Charles Breyer ruled August 10, 2022, that “it was more likely than not that Walgreens pharmacies failed to perform due diligence on opioid prescriptions for 15 years," Nasdaq said. The judge also said Walgreens pharmacists weren’t given enough time to properly follow up on “red flags,” according to Reuters.
What Walgreens must pay in penalties will be decided at a later date.
SOURCES:
Reuters August 10, 2022
Nasdaq August 10, 2022