Walgreens is Latest to Pay Big to Settle DOJ Opioid Fraud Charges

By the Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Team Yesterday (April 21), the Department of Justice (DOJ) – together with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Health and Human Services Inspector General – announced that Walgreens will pay at least $300 million to settle DOJ charges of violating the False Claims Act and Controlled Substances Act through its filling of improper opioid prescriptions.  It is just the latest in a string of healthcare-related companies...

A $5.4M Health Care Fraud Scheme: Louisiana Doctor Sentenced for Illegally Distributing Over 1.8M Opioid Doses

On February 6, 2025, the government announced that Louisiana physician, Adrian Dexter Talbot M.D., 59, was sentenced to 87 months in prison for conspiring to illegally distribute 1.8+ million doses of Schedule II controlled substances (including oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine), and for defrauding health care benefit programs of over $5.4 million. Talbot owned and operated Medex Clinical Consultants (Medex), a medical clinic that accepted cash payments for Schedule II controlled substance...

Rite Aid Settles Allegations Over Improper Opioid Dispensing

Rite Aid Corporation, one of the biggest names in the retail pharmacy industry, has reached a settlement following allegations of improper practices related to opioid dispensing. This settlement, announced by the U.S. Department of Justice, involves a total payment of $7.5 million to resolve claims under the False Claims Act  and Controlled Substances Act (CSA).  From 2014 to 2019, Rite Aid allegedly dispensed hundreds of thousands of unlawful prescriptions for...

Opioid Exploitation: Doctor and Staff Charged with Conspiracy and Fraud

In Saint Louis, Dr. David A. Parks along with his clinical manager and spouse, James M. Bilderback, and front desk staffer Michelle J. Scheer, face serious allegations of conspiracy and health care fraud. Indicted by the U.S. District Court, the three are accused of illegal prescription practices and fraudulent activities aimed to profit from controlled substances and fraudulent medical billing. The indictment alleges that Dr. Parks and his associates conspired to...

Catch of the Week: Jury Finds Teva Pharmaceuticals Liable for Contributing to Opioid-Related Deaths in New York State

In a significant development in the ongoing effort to assess blame and responsibility for the opioid epidemic, which has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of individuals and ravaged communities throughout the United States, on December 30th, after a six-month trial, a New York jury found that Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. (“Teva”) and its affiliates, including Anda Inc., created a “public nuisance” in two counties on Long Island...

Catch of the Week: 345 Charged in $6 Billion National Health Care Fraud and Opioid Takedown

In the largest health care fraud and opioid enforcement action in the Justice Department’s history, 345 defendants—including more than 100 doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals—face charges for submitting over $6 billion in false or fraudulent claims to federal and private insurers.  Defendants stand accused of submitting $4.5 billion in fraudulent claims linked to telemedicine, $845 million associated with substance abuse treatment facilities, or “sober homes,” and $806 million connected...

Catch of the Week: Indivior Agrees to Pay $600 Million to Settle Opioid Fraud Case

The latest in our Catch of the Week series features Indivior Solutions’ (“Indivior”) agreement to pay $600 million to resolve criminal and civil liability associated with the marketing of the opioid-addiction-treatment drug Suboxone. This is in addition to the $1.4 billion resolution with Indivior’s former parent, Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (“RB Group”) that was previously announced in 2019. Suboxone is a drug product used by recovering opioid addicts to reduce...

EHR vendor Settles Landmark Case Alleging Acceptance of Kickbacks from Pharma Company to Steer Opioid Prescriptions

Constantine Cannon partners Mary Inman and Anne Hartman published in RAC Monitor, EHR vendor Settles Landmark Case Alleging Acceptance of Kickbacks from Pharma Company to Steer Opioid Prescriptions.  Click here to read the article.

Opioid Executive Sentenced to Over Five Years in Prison for Role in Healthcare Fraud Scheme

Insys Therapeutics, an opioid manufacturer whose main product is Subsys, a spray from of fentanyl that is 100 times stronger than morphine and cost tens of thousands a month, is in the news again. The company and its former CEO, John Kapoor, have been facing a mountain of legal issues in the past three years. Last week, in a decision that most of our readers agree with, Kapoor was sentenced to...

Question of the Week — Is the use of public nuisance law against J&J for its role in the opioid crisis appropriate?

The landmark $572M opioid verdict in Oklahoma against Johnson & Johnson stemmed from a single claim: “public nuisance” under state law.  Other cases against opioid manufacturers, including whistleblower cases, involve claims for fraud, unlawful marketing, improper prescriptions, kickbacks, violating the Controlled Substances Act by failing to report suspicious purchases, and even flooding the black market.  But public nuisance law historically addresses a person’s use of land that interferes with a...