CVS Agrees to Pay Millions to Settle Allegations of Filling Forged Prescriptions

Earlier this year, CVS paid $8 million for alleged violations of the Controlled Substance Act in its Maryland pharmacies.

Last week, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced that CVS has agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle allegations that its pharmacists filled forged prescriptions, mostly for addictive painkillers, between 2011 and 2014.

CVS also entered into a three-year agreement with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to make sure its pharmacies work more diligently to detect and prevent the diversion of controlled substances.

In a press release, US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz stated, “Pharmacies have a legal responsibility to ensure that controlled substances are dispensed only pursuant to valid prescriptions. When pharmacies ignore red flags that a prescription is fraudulent, they miss a critical opportunity to prevent prescription drugs from entering the stream of illegal opiates on the black market.”

The CVS investigation started after the DEA began receiving a high volume of calls about forged oxycodone prescriptions in the Massachusetts CVS stores. Ultimately, the DEA found that 403 forged prescriptions were filled at 40 stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and that 120 forged prescriptions were filled at 10 CVS stores in the Boston area.

One of the major forgers, according to the DEA allegations, was a patient known as “PR,” who used a dentist’s name to fill 56 of 59 oxycodone prescriptions. CVS pharmacists continued to dispense the medications to “PR” despite having detailed computer warnings and notes regarding “PRs” history of trying to fill forged prescriptions.

“PR” allegedly was able to circumvent the CVS ban by creating a new patient profile with her Arizona driver’s license and using a different last name.

The attorney’s office press release stated, “The government alleged that CVS should have known that the new profile was really PR’s, and that the quantities and frequency of PR’s oxycodone prescriptions were excessive, especially coming from a dentist. Moreover, the government alleged, even if CVS had believed the prescriptions to be real, there were red flags that PR was doctor shopping, including the fact that PR presented oxycodone prescriptions from 2 different providers during a single week at 1 CVS store.”

Finally, the attorney’s office noted that pharmacists should continue to use diligence in identifying red flags to ensure that forged prescriptions are not filled.