Walgreen to pay record painkiller settlement

Largest U.S. drugstore chain to pay $80 million to resolve DEA allegations




Shoppers walk by at the Walgreens' Times Square store in New York. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters / December 21, 2012)




Reuters2:28 p.m. CDT, June 11, 2013


Walgreen has agreed to pay $80 million related to allegations it broke federal rules that govern how prescription painkillers are distributed, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said on Tuesday.
The DEA said the settlement is the largest in its history.

It accused Walgreen of committing an “unprecedented” number of record-keeping and dispensing violations of the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA said these violations allowed drugs such as the narcotic oxycodone to be sold to abusers and illegally on the black market.

Deerfield-based Walgreen was not immediately available for comment.

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