Walgreens — “Say it ain’t so”

Walgreens is one of the biggest pharmacy chains in the world with gross annual sales of over $70 billion. It’s certainly not an organization that meets the typical definition of a “pill mill”.

However, writing for the Associated Press, Curt Anderson highlights how even a respected and highly regulated pharmacy can be seduced by the Oxycodone money web. Federal DEA officials out of Miami just announced an $80 million civil penalty against Walgreens for violations of the Controlled Substances Act. According to the article, stores in Florida “routinely filled prescriptions that clearly were not for a legitimate medical use.” The chief of Miami’s DEA office called Walgreens actions “a clear example of inexcusable corporate conduct that existed only for greed and profit.”

The annual average for individual pharmacy store purchases of Oxycodone is less than 75,000 units. One of Walgreens Florida stores went from 388,000 Oxycodone units in 2009 to more than 2.1 million units in 2011.

So….Follow the Money. Not only does abuse involve the rogue storefront physician and the individual claimant/patient trying to make a fast buck — it goes all the way up to Big Pharma and well respected pharmacy chains.

The DEA is doing better.

Call Us. We can do better.

William Faris, JD

Chief Executive Officer

502-495-5040