The Guardian Liberty Voice, citing the Sun Sentinel, the Southtown Star and others, has reported that Walgreens is being sued for negligence in a Vicodin overdose death, with evidence from the store showing that the physician for the deceased had ordered that the pharmacy stop filling the prescriptions two years earlier.
Before this suit was filed the Drug Enforcement Administration announced an $80 million settlement that resolved charges made against pharmacy giant Walgreens for its failure in controlling the dispensing of opioid pain relievers in some of their stores.
The current wrongful death lawsuit is in regards to the death of J.O. in August of 2012, and was filed by his mother. The suit states that J.P.'s doctor telephoned the pharmacy on April 20, 2010 to tell them that his patient was abusing drugs and to no longer fill his prescriptions.
Walgreens continued to fill J.O.'s prescriptions until his death of an opiate overdose two years later.
The doctor's telephone call generated a notation in Walgreens computer files. However, even though the doctor, who was J.O.'s primary physician, no longer prescribed the drug for him it was filled routinely for the two additional years.
According to the DEA, Walgreens have been spotlighted since April of 2012 for selling a disproportionate number of painkillers – OxyContin and Vicodin – in the state of Florida. The DEA learned that the Walgreens corporation rewarded pharmacists with a bonus program for their Oxycodone sales. And, allegedly, Walgreens pharmacists were told to ignore any warnings of drug abuse in their customers.
The DEA's report also included information that one Walgreens manager was concerned with the amount of painkillers being dispensed in the Florida stores. However, the corporate supervisors failed to follow up, and the DEA placed their distributions center under suspension in September 2012.
The suspension halted all distribution of controlled substances to stores in both Florida and the East Coast.
At the same time dozens of Florida residents were dying of prescription drug overdoses.
With the suspension in place patients with verifiable needs for painkillers now have to wait for their Walgreens pharmacist to look for warning signs of abuse which includes paying in cash, multiple prescriptions for the same medication, refilling prescriptions too early or picking up the same prescription for over six months. If these signs are detected the pharmacist is to contact the physician to verify the necessity of the prescription. The doctor and the pharmacist are then to discuss the drug, diagnosis, last doctor visit, and how long the treatments is expected to last.
Due to these new policies patients that have had to wait for their prescriptions to be filled, and the doctors that have had to take the phone calls from pharmacies, have complained to the American Academy of Pain Management and the American Medical Association.
J.O. is the first lawsuit filed against Walgreens for wrongful death.
Both physicians, and pharmacies, may play a role for a prescription drug overdose. If your loved one has died under these circumstances, or any circumstance where someone else is to blame, contact a personal injury lawyer to file your lawsuit today!