The Walgreens store at 3910 University Ave., Waterloo. (Photo via Google Earth)
Two Iowa-licensed pharmacies affiliated with the Walgreens and CVS chains are charged with violating state regulations.
The Walgreens store located at 3910 University Ave., Waterloo, is charged by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy with failing to maintain ultimate accountability of controlled substances and records; failing to ensure accountability of controlled substances; failing to create and maintain complete and accurate records as required by law; and committing acts that would render their Controlled Substances Act registration “inconsistent with the public interest.”
The board has not publicly disclosed the alleged conduct that gave rise to the charges or indicated when it occurred.
A board hearing on the charges is scheduled for Sept. 24, 2025.
In an unrelated action, the board recently charged CVS/Caremark CarelonRx Mail operation, which is based in Pennsylvania but is a licensed pharmacy provider in Iowa, with multiple regulatory violations.
The board has charged the company with distributing a drug or device to a patient without a prescription; knowingly making misleading, deceptive, untrue, or fraudulent representations in the practice of pharmacy or engaging in unethical conduct; violating the pharmacy laws or rules of another, unspecified state; and having a license revoked or suspended by another entity for conduct that is roughly equal to the grounds for disciplinary action in Iowa.
A board hearing on the charges is scheduled for June 25, 2025.
The board has not publicly disclosed the alleged conduct that forms the basis of the charges. The charges may be tied to a recent decision by the Missouri Board of Pharmacy to place on probation for three years the license of CVS/Caremark CarelonRx Mail. That decision was based on a finding that the company’s California license had been sanctioned due to allegations the company was dispensing controlled substances for no legitimate medical purpose.
In December 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice sued CVS and many of its subsidiaries, including Iowa CVS, alleging the company sought reimbursement from federal health care programs for illegal prescriptions. The case is still pending, although the company has denied any wrongdoing.
The government alleges that from October 2013 through 2024, CVS knowingly filled prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose. Among the unlawful prescriptions that CVS allegedly filled were prescriptions for dangerous and excessive quantities of opioids, early fills of opioids, and “trinity” prescriptions, an especially dangerous and abused combination of drugs made up of an opioid, a benzodiazepine and a muscle relaxant.
According to the government, CVS ignored substantial evidence from multiple sources, including its own pharmacists, indicating its stores were dispensing unlawful prescriptions. The complaint alleges the violations resulted from corporate-mandated performance metrics and incentivized compensation for employees that prioritized corporate profits over patient safety.
“CVS’ actions helped to fuel the opioid crisis,” the Department of Justice has alleged, adding that in “some particularly tragic instances, patients died after overdosing on opioids shortly after filling unlawful prescriptions at CVS.”
CVS is the nation’s largest pharmacy chain, with more than 9,000 pharmacies across the United States.