By Victor Swezey


OptumRx has agreed to pay $20 million to settle allegations that it illegally filled opioid prescriptions.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday that the UnitedHealth Group unit violated the Controlled Substances Act by improperly filling prescriptions that combined opioids with other drugs between April 2013 and April 2015.

The company is accused of filling the prescriptions from a mail-order pharmacy in Carlsbad, Calif., despite the fact that the prescriptions raised "red flags" that they may not have been intended for medical use.

Known as "trinity" prescriptions, these combinations of opioids and drugs like benzodiazepines and muscle relaxants are associated with elevated risk of harm.

According to the news release, OptumRx has instituted protocols since 2017 to reduce the number, dosage, and duration of prescriptions, as well as stronger screening measures to better identify and reject harmful drug combinations and excess dosing. During the investigation, OptumRX closed its mail-order pharmacy operations in Carlsbad.

OptumRx didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.


Write to Victor Swezey at victor.swezey@wsj.com 


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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-27-24 1731ET