The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil complaint in late January against Walgreens, one of the largest pharmaceutical chains in the US, with over 8,000 pharmacies nationwide and a worth of $8.8 billion.

In the complaint filed last month in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the DOJ alleges that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Walgreen Co. and various subsidiaries (collectively, Walgreens) “dispensed millions of unlawful prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and then sought reimbursement for many of these prescriptions from various federal health care programs in violation the False Claims Act (FCA),” a civil law that protects the government from being overcharged for goods and services.

Four whistleblowers who had worked for Walgreens in different parts of the US filed whistleblower actions under qui tam provisions of the FCA. Under these provisions, private individuals may sue on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in any recovery. The FCA states that the United States can intervene and take over such lawsuits and has done so in this complaint. Now all four whistleblower cases have been consolidated in United States ex rel. Novak v. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. No. 18 C 5452 (NDIL).

In the complaint, the DOJ claims that numerous “unlawful” prescriptions for dangerous amounts of opioids, refills of opioids, and particularly dangerous combinations of such drugs the DOJ called the “trinity” were prescribed. The extremely dangerous “trinity” is comprised of benzodiazepine, opioids, and a muscle relaxant.

The federal prosecutors allege that Walgreen’s actions in filling these prescriptions aided in growing the opioid crisis. They claim that numerous patients overdosed and then died from taking the opioid prescriptions after filling their “unlawful prescriptions” at Walgreens.

The total number of prescriptions filled in Walgreens, including vaccines, in 2024 was massive, totaling about 796 million prescriptions in the United States. The complaint does not include an exact number of alleged unlawful opioid prescriptions filled by Walgreens, though the legal documents do note there were “millions.”

In a public statement, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said that the DOJ wants to hold Walgreens “accountable” for prescribing addictive and dangerous drugs and other medications despite obvious “red flags.”

“This lawsuit seeks to hold Walgreens accountable for the many years that it failed to meet its obligations when dispensing dangerous opioids and other drugs,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Boynton in a statement. “Our complaint alleges that Walgreens pharmacists filled millions of controlled substance prescriptions with clear red flags that indicated the prescriptions were highly likely to be unlawful, and that Walgreens systematically pressured its pharmacists to fill prescriptions, including controlled substance prescriptions, without taking the time needed to confirm their validity. These practices allowed millions of opioid pills and other controlled substances to flow illegally out of Walgreens stores.”

The Feds shared a timeline from August 2012 through today during which they allege Walgreens “knowingly” filled many millions of prescriptions for controlled substances. In its statement, the DOJ says that Walgreens not only pressured pharmacists to fill such unlawful prescriptions but also refilled numerous prescriptions early.

In court documents, the Feds allege that Walgreens had “substantial evidence from multiple sources” about the unlawful prescriptions. These sources included “its own pharmacists and internal data” which the company ignored.

Walgreens allegedly pushed its pharmacists to “fill prescriptions quickly without taking the time needed to confirm each prescription’s validity” and “deprived its pharmacists of crucial information, including by preventing pharmacists from warning one another about certain prescribers.”

Because Walgreens allegedly filled unlawful prescriptions of controlled substances, the complaint charges Walgreens with violating the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a federal law that places regulated substances into one of five schedules according to the substance's medical use, potential for abuse, and safety or risk of dependence.

In a statement from the DOJ, Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual for the Northern District of Illinois argued that Walgreens broke the law.

“As alleged in the complaint, Walgreens continually disregarded its obligations under the Controlled Substances Act and False Claims Act by illegally dispensing powerful controlled substances and unlawfully seeking reimbursement from federal health care programs,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Pasqual. “These laws are critically important in protecting our communities from the dangers of the opioid epidemic. Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that opioids are properly dispensed and that taxpayer funds are only spent on legitimate pharmacy claims.”

Walgreens, if found guilty, could face civil penalties up to “$80,850 for each unlawful prescription filled in violation of the CSA and treble damages and applicable penalties for each prescription paid by federal programs in violation of the FCA. The court also may award injunctive relief to prevent Walgreens from committing further CSA violations.”