Fifteen-hospital McLaren Health Care has agreed to pay $7.75 million for illegally distributing prescription painkillers in its home state, Michigan, which has been grappling with the opioid addiction epidemic.
The settlement is the largest ever of its kind in this country, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
McLaren had been under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration for several years, the office notes in an announcement.
The DEA caught the health system committing numerous offenses. These included filling prescriptions for mass quantities of painkilling drugs, refilling prescriptions ahead of eligibility dates and entering prescriptions in the names of fake patients.
“While our health systems provide critical services to patients, they carry broader public responsibilities as bulwarks against the drug diversion that contributes to the surging opioid crisis in the State of Michigan,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge says in the announcement.
“Hospitals and health systems handle significant quantities of controlled substances and must fulfill their legal obligations for handling those drugs under the Controlled Substances Act,” Birge adds. “This settlement demonstrates our offices’ shared commitment to working cooperatively, together and with our agency partners, to hold even the largest providers accountable when they fall short of what the law demands.”
The federal office notes that McLaren Health has cooperated with investigators and is complying with nonmonetary directives laid out in the settlement.
McLaren Health has released its own recounting of the settlement, and the Detroit News has posted local coverage.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.