CVS to pay feds $450K to settle dispute over forged prescriptions

CVS Health Corp. is agreeing to pay the government $450,000 to resolve allegations that some of its Rhode Island stores filled invalid prescriptions and maintained deficient records.

“It should come as no surprise to any Rhode Island citizen —  individual or corporate — that diversion and misuse of prescription painkillers are a public health crisis in the State of Rhode Island,” U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha said in a statement announcing the deal.

{mosads}The U.S. Attorney’s Office, along with the Drug Enforcement Agency, investigated several CVS pharmacy locations in Rhode Island for two years for filling prescriptions for controlled substances with a “high potential for abuse.”

The CVS pharmacies that were accused of breaking the law allegedly filled “a number of forged prescriptions with invalid DEA numbers,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

They also allegedly filled multiple prescriptions written by psychiatric nurses for the opioid painkiller hydrocodone even though the nurses were not legally allowed to prescribe them. Only physicians can prescribe this drug for a legitimate medical reason.

CVS has denied any wrongdoing.