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Norco pain medication11/21/2023 ![]() ![]() Walgreens adopted a “secret checklist” in 2013 that required its pharmacies to watch for red flags such as patients paying for opioid prescriptions in cash, seeking an early refill or taking an “excessive” number of pills. The companies did not respond to a request for comment. While pharmacies have a legal right to refuse to fill prescriptions they consider suspicious or inappropriate, the lawsuits allege that CVS, Walgreens and Costco adopted corporate policies that encourage their pharmacists to profile patients as drug abusers and impose limits on opioid medication. ![]() ![]() ![]() I think it’s promising.” Corporate Policies Profile Patients Also, whether the court which hears it considers the refusal to fill prescriptions tantamount to a denial of service. “Whether this will succeed will depend on a lot of intangibles such as the quality of the complaints, what is learned during discovery about any nationwide policies the pharmacy chains had in place, or, alternatively, repeated instances of fills for legitimate prescriptions being denied. It is a violation for any person with a disability to be denied service by a place of public accommodation, and pharmacies are clearly covered as places of public accommodation under the ADA,” said Kate Nicholson, a patient advocate and civil rights lawyer who handled discrimination cases at the Department of Justice for over 20 years. “I have always thought that this is one of the better potential legal avenues for an ADA action regarding prescription opioids. The California and Rhode Island cases are believed to be the first class action lawsuits to address the problem. It’s also not uncommon for patients to encounter delays and excuses, such as a pharmacy claiming it was out of stock of a particular medication. have complained for years about pharmacists refusing to fill their opioid prescriptions or reducing them to lower doses. It will hopefully improve their quality of life and save many lives in the process." “These lawsuits seek to allow the millions of chronic pain patients to obtain their legitimate opioid prescriptions without being discriminated against, harassed, denied, or embarrassed. "Many Americans are unaware of the difficulties chronic pain patients have getting pharmacies to fill their lawfully-obtained opioid prescriptions. It is not only a crisis for Edith and Susan, but for millions of Americans due to the backlash caused in part by the national publicity concerning opioid abuse,” said Scott Hirsch, a Florida lawyer who is one of several lead attorneys handling the cases. She alleges that Walgreens and Costco pharmacies refused to fill her opioid prescriptions in violation of federal law. The only medication that gives Smith relief from headache pain are opioids. Smith suffers from Mesial Temporal Lobe Sclerosis, which resulted in scar tissue in her brain that causes severe chronic migraines. Her complaint was filed in Rhode Island, where CVS has its corporate headquarters.Ĥ3-year old Susan Smith of Castro Valley, California, filed a similar class action against Walgreens and Costco in the Northern District of California. Fuog’s lawsuit alleges that since 2017, CVS pharmacies have refused to fill her prescriptions for opioid medication in violation of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the anti-discrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act. National class action lawsuits have been filed against three of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains for discriminating against pain patients trying to fill legitimate prescriptions for opioid medication.Ĭlass action complaints against Walgreens, Costco and CVS Pharmacy were filed in California and Rhode Island on behalf of two women seeking legal relief that will allow them to get their opioid prescriptions filled without delays or restrictions, and without the fear that their prescriptions will be denied.Įdith Fuog, a 48-year old Florida woman and breast cancer survivor, lives with trigeminal neuralgia, lupus, arthritis and other chronic pain conditions. ![]()
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