In addition to the $50 million payment, Walmart has entered into a memorandum of agreement with the DEA that lays out new obligations for how the company will handle controlled substances going forward.
Under that agreement, Walmart must:
- Create a reporting hotline for both employees and patients to flag suspected illegal dispensing of controlled substances.
- Proactively monitor prescription and dispensing patterns in its pharmacies to identify and address potentially illegal activity.
- Implement a formal process to evaluate prescribers suspected of illegal or improper prescribing and decide whether to continue filling their prescriptions.
Federal officials say those measures are intended to tighten oversight inside one of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains and help prevent similar problems in the future.
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