- Massachusetts AG Maura Healey reached a settlement with workers’ compensation mail-order pharmacy Injured Workers Pharmacy, LLC (“IWP”) to resolve allegations that it shipped thousands of potentially illegitimate controlled substance prescriptions, such as opioids, in violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Law.
- The complaint alleged that, among other things, IWP failed to implement policies and procedures to prevent unlawful dispensing of prescriptions, including by failing to verify prescriptions for controlled substances before filling the prescription, and using unfair sales tactics such as paying healthcare providers and attorneys for new patient referrals.
- Under the terms of the proposed consent judgment, IWP will be required to pay $9.0 million in civil penalties, $1.5 million to the AG’s office to be used at the office’s discretion for initiatives related to the prevention, treatment, and enforcement against medication abuse, and $500,000 for attorneys’ fees and costs. IWP is also obligated to implement policies and procedures to prevent dispensing illegal prescriptions in the future and is banned from offering payments for new patient referrals, among other things.