CVS Pharmacy and several subsidiaries, the country’s largest pharmacy chain, have agreed to pay $315 million to settle a Justice Department case alleging they unlawfully dispensed medically unnecessary prescriptions of highly addictive opioids.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit brought in 2024 that alleges that CVS repeatedly filled controlled substance prescriptions that were unlawful and pressured its pharmacists to fill such prescriptions without taking the time needed to confirm their validity — in order to meet corporate-mandated performance metrics. The government also alleged that CVS billed Medicare and other federal health programs for many of those prescriptions.
CVS says it strongly disagreed with the claims made in the lawsuit and that the settlement admits no wrongdoing.