Walgreens has agreed to pay up to $350 million in a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, which accused the pharmacy of illegally filling millions of prescriptions in the last decade for opioids and other controlled substances, according to the Associated Press.
The nationwide drugstore chain must pay the government at least $300 million and will owe another $50 million if the company is sold, merged or transferred before 2032, according to the settlement reached last Friday.
The government’s complaint, filed in January in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleges that Walgreens knowingly filled millions of illegal prescriptions for controlled substances between August 2012 and March 2023. These include prescriptions for excessive opioids and prescriptions filled significantly early.
