CVS knowingly dispensed 'excessive quantities of opioids' from 'known pill mills': DOJ lawsuit

WASHINGTON -- The largest pharmacy chain in America is accused of "unlawfully dispensing massive quantities of opioids and other controlled substances to fuel its own profits at the expense of public health and safety," according to a civil lawsuit filed by the Justice Department, which was unsealed Wednesday.

The DOJ lawsuit alleges that CVS has, for more than a decade, knowingly filled sometimes-dubious prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose, or were not valid.

Those prescriptions included "dangerous and excessive quantities of opioids" and "trinity cocktails" a blend of "especially dangerous and abused combination of drugs made up of an opioid, a benzodiazepine and a muscle relaxant," the suit stated.

The suit also accuses the company of filling "at least thousands of controlled substance prescriptions" penned by "known 'pill mills.'"

In a statement to ABC News, CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault called the suit "misguided" and said company officials "strongly disagree with the allegations and false narrative" described in the DOJ suit and will "defend ourselves vigorously."

DOJ's lawsuit says CVS "contributed to the opioid crisis, a national public health emergency with devastating effects in the United States." The suit went on to say: "These included illegitimate prescriptions for extremely high doses and excessive quantities of potent opioids that fed dependence and addiction, as well as illegitimate prescriptions for dangerous combinations of opioids and other drugs."

The suit accuses CVS of ignoring sometimes "egregious red flags" about prescriptions "bearing the hallmarks of abuse and diversion." The lawsuit points to performance metrics and incentive compensation policies that allegedly pressured pharmacists to "fill prescriptions as quickly as possible, without assessing their legitimacy" and corporate policies that allegedly prioritized speed over safety.

The suit claims CVS refused to implement compliance measures recommended by its own experts to reduce the number of invalid prescriptions with red flags "primarily due to fear that they would slow the speed of prescription filling and increase labor costs," according to the suit.

The government is seeking civil penalties, injunctive relief and damages to address what it called CVS' unlawful practices and to prevent future violations.

In her statement, Thibault, the CVS spokesperson, said the company has been an industry leader in fighting opioid misuse.

"Each of the prescriptions in question was for an FDA-approved opioid medication prescribed by a practitioner who the government itself licensed, authorized, and empowered to write controlled-substance prescriptions," Thibault's statement said.

She said the DOJ lawsuit "intensifies a serious dilemma for pharmacists, who are simultaneously second-guessed for dispensing too many opioids, and too few."