DOJ Intervenes in Several Whistleblower Qui Tam Actions Alleging a Nationwide Scheme Against Walgreens for its Illegal Dispensing Practices That Helped Fuel the Opioid Crisis

On January 17, 2025, after a multi-year investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint in intervention in four whistleblower qui tam lawsuits filed against Walgreens, alleging that its illegal dispensing practices contributed to the opioid crisis and caused many deaths and other serious harm to its customers. DOJ’s complaint alleges violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) and Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Rabin Kammerer Johnson (RKJ), on behalf of a 42-year Walgreens’ pharmacist who resides in Palm Beach County, jointly filed one of the four whistleblower lawsuits.

In its complaint, DOJ alleges that Walgreens filled millions of illegal opioid prescriptions nationwide that lacked a “legitimate medical purpose,” were prescribed outside the usual course of professional pharmacy practice, or were not prescribed for a medically accepted indication.  DOJ’s alleges that Walgreens’ filling of these illegal prescriptions put profits ahead of patients’ interests by submitting false or fraudulent claims to federal healthcare programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare.

DOJ’s complaint alleges representative examples of Walgreens’ pharmacies ignoring “red flags” that prescriptions customers were asking Walgreens to fill lacked a legitimate medical purpose and/or were being prescribed at such high doses, they created a substantial risk of death or serious harm to customers. In its complaint in intervention, DOJ cites several examples in which a Walgreens’ customer overdosed and died within days of Walgreens filling an opioid prescription that should never have been filled based on obvious red flags.

A common thread between the four whistleblowers was that while they were employed at Walgreens, Walgreens’ corporate management often pressured, and sometimes disciplined, them for refusing to fill customers’ opioid prescriptions, even if it was evident that the prescribed dosages might be dangerous.

RKJ’s whistleblower client alleged in his complaint that after Walgreens entered into a 2013 settlement with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which required Walgreens to adopt a Good Faith Dispensing Policy (GFDP) that would regulate Walgreens’ dispensing of oxycodone, hydromorphone, and methadone, Walgreens would nonetheless perform an “end around” by filling prescriptions for “cocktails” that combined these or comparable powerful opioids with acetaminophen, causing the ultimately dispensed drugs to fall outside the strict letter of the GFDP.

DOJ’s complaint makes plain that Walgreens’ desire to put profits ahead of its customers’ health and best interests helped fuel the nation’s worst ever public health crisis, including causing deaths in the thousands, other serious bodily harm and unnecessary hospitalizations in the millions, and billions of dollars in false claims submitted to federal healthcare programs for reimbursement.

RKJ attorneys Adam Rabin and Havan Clark represented their whistleblower client and will be assisting DOJ in pursuing the ongoing lawsuit against Walgreens.

If you know or your client are aware of a situation in which a company or person has defrauded a federal program, including healthcare, procurement (government contracts), defense-contractor fraud, disaster relief, customs fraud, education, or construction fraud, contact the whistleblower qui tam attorneys at RKJ at 561-659-7878.