Company had a role in fueling the nation’s opioid crisis, suit says.
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice filed a 160-page civil complaint in the U.S. District Court of Delaware against Walmart. The lawsuit alleges that the company “unlawfully filled thousands upon thousands of invalid controlled-substance prescriptions.”
If Walmart is adjudged to have violated the Controlled Substances Act, it could face penalties of up to $67,627 for each unlawful prescription it filled and $15,691 for each suspicious order that it did not report, which could total millions, if not billions, of dollars.
Walmart responded, “The Justice Department’s investigation is tainted by historical ethics violations, and this lawsuit invents a legal theory that unlawfully forces pharmacists to come between patients and their doctors, which is riddled with factual inaccuracies and cherry-picked documents taken out of context.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that “from 1999 to 2018, more than 232,000 people in the United States died from overdoses involving prescription opioids” and that “overdose deaths involving prescription opioids were more than four times higher in 2018 than in 1999.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For wisdom for the courts who will heard the suit against Walmart for their pharmacies possibly filling unlawful opioid prescriptions.
- For the Justice Department as it seeks to safeguard the American people.
- For people across the U.S. who are addicted to opioids to be able to receive the treatment they need.
- For families who have lost loved ones due to opioid overdoses.
Sources: Washington Examiner, CNBC
