Yesterday, the United States Department of Justice filed its complaint in intervention in a whistleblower lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act (FCA) by Baron & Budd against Rite Aid.

Adding to allegations made in the whistleblower lawsuit, the DOJ complaint alleges that Rite Aid knowingly filled at least hundreds of thousands of unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose, were not for a medically accepted indication, or were not issued in the usual course of professional practice. Because of this alleged conduct, taxpayer-funded healthcare programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare, which only cover the costs of valid prescriptions issued for legitimate medical purposes, were on the hook for these dubious prescriptions and shelled out large sums of federal dollars to Rite Aid pharmacies in violation of the FCA.

As Attorney General Merrick Garland stated: “The Justice Department is using every tool at our disposal to confront the opioid epidemic that is killing Americans and shattering communities across the country…That includes holding corporations, like Rite Aid, accountable for knowingly filling unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances.”

DOJ’s intervention follows the complaint originally filed by Baron & Budd in late 2019. That complaint, filed by three former Rite Aid pharmacist whistleblowers, alleged similar violations of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and FCA. Pharmacists from three states accused Rite Aid of pressuring pharmacists to rush and fill prescriptions without conducting research for any red flags, like a doctor writing huge amounts of opioid prescriptions or customers who showed signs of doctor-shopping. In fact, the lawsuit alleges that when pharmacists raised concerns – including after robberies of opioids, customers using opioids in stores, and drug deals in pharmacy parking lots – either nothing was done, or the pharmacists would be threatened with punishment.

After the federal government investigated the whistleblowers’ allegations, DOJ chose to intervene and take over the lawsuit in part. The DOJ intervening in the lawsuit signals a ramp-up in federal activity to rectify the opioid crisis and its emphasis on combating health care fraud.

Anyone with knowledge of opioid fraud can make a difference and serve as a whistleblower. Not only does serving as a whistleblower help save lives and hold bad actors accountable, but whistleblowers whose suits are successful can receive a portion of the recovery, ranging between 15 and 30 percent of the settlement amount.

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With more than 30 years of experience, the attorneys on Baron & Budd’s whistleblower representation team have represented dozens of clients in government fraud cases returning over $6.0 billion to federal and state agencies, with whistleblower recovery shares as high as 49%. They are ready to help if you have evidence of fraud involving the WOSB Program.

Please call (866) 845-2164 or complete our contact form if you would like more information. For more information, see What You Need to Know About Becoming a Whistleblower. Please understand that contacting us does not mean that you have established an attorney-client relationship with Baron & Budd, P.C.