Foulkes’ Time at CVS Comes Under More Scrutiny - NH Files Suit: CVS “Helped Fuel an Opioid Epidemic”
Thursday, July 28, 2022
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella filed a civil lawsuit this week against several retail pharmacy chains following an investigation into the alleged overdistribution and dispensing of prescription opioids across the State of New Hampshire.
Named in the suit was CVS Health Corporation; CVS Indiana L.L.C.; CVS Pharmacy, Inc.; as well as other national chains.
Helena Foulkes was the top executive overseeing CVS’ decisions for the pharmacy function of the retail business during the time of the alleged improper activities. For much of the time, she was the president of CVS, and prior she was vice president of pharmacy.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTToday, she is running for governor of Rhode Island and hypes her leadership role at CVS.
Now, the litigation is piling up for CVS. Multiple attorney generals allege that CVS and other pharmacy chains help to fuel the health crisis.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said, "When it comes to deadly, addictive drugs such as opioids, people trust their local pharmacies to help and protect them. Sadly, some of these national pharmacy chains failed to provide the people of New Hampshire the type of pharmacy care and protection they had a right to expect. Instead, they helped fuel an opioid epidemic in the Granite State."
"I applaud the efforts of the Attorney General's Office to hold these companies accountable for their role in New Hampshire's opioid crisis. These companies have been generating large profits off the people of New Hampshire. They must now help abate the harm they inflicted on our citizens," said Sununu.
According to AG, New Hampshire is One of the States Hardest Hit by Opioid Epidemic
New Hampshire is among the nation's top five states with the highest rates of opioid-involved deaths. In 2020, the state experienced an opioid overdose death rate of 26.9 per 100,000 in 2020, which was significantly higher than the national average of 21.4 deaths per 100,000.
Hundreds more of New Hampshire's residents were rushed to emergency rooms or revived by EMS and other first responders trained to administer naloxone and other overdose antidotes.
The number of infants diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome increased from 52 to 269 in 2015, accounting for 24.4 per 1,000 live hospital births across the state.
"The law requires pharmacies to be diligent in distributing and dispensing controlled drugs, including highly addictive pain medications. These large pharmacy companies failed to report suspiciously large quantities being shipped into their neighborhood retail pharmacies or suspicious prescriptions to their customers," said Formella.
"For decades now, these companies have watched pain pills that they are distributing and dispensing cause extreme harm and deaths. During the height of the opioid epidemic, these pharmacies allowed millions of dosage units of opioids to flood New Hampshire, devastating thousands of families and communities across the Granite State. As both drug distributors and the operators of chain pharmacy locations, these companies were in a unique position to more closely monitor the flow of these highly addictive drugs from their stores. By bringing this lawsuit, we are attempting to hold them accountable for contributing to a crisis they helped create and that tragically led to the loss of life for thousands of people throughout New Hampshire," added Formella.
Federal Court Jury in Ohio Finds CVS Responsible
Foulkes refused to respond to many of GoLocal's questions about her role. Her campaign issued the following statement, de facto, the same statement the campaign issued after jurors in a federal court case concluded that actions by the pharmacy chains CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens helped create a public nuisance that resulted in an oversupply of addictive pain pills and the diversion of those opioids to the black market.
"The opioid crisis has been devastating for families all across the country. It’s a crisis that everyone—industry and government leaders alike—caught too late. During Helena's time at CVS, she took a leadership role in driving efforts to prevent children and young adults from accessing prescriptions in their homes, worked to identify and stop prescriptions from pill mills, and to stem the widespread over-prescribing of opioids. Under her leadership, CVS advocated for legislation in Rhode Island to limit opioid overprescribing, which passed in 2016," said the Foulkes campaign.
Foulkes has repeatedly refused to answer if she believes CVS has any culpability.
CVS' Florida Settlement on Opioids
CVS Health announced on March 20 "that it has entered into an agreement with the State of Florida to resolve claims dating back more than a decade related to prescriptions for opioid medications that were filled at Florida CVS Pharmacy locations."
"Under the agreement the company will settle all opioid claims against it by Florida for $484 million, to be paid over a period of 18 years. As a result, CVS Pharmacy will no longer be a defendant in Florida's opioid lawsuit that is scheduled for trial in April 2022," said CVS in a press release.
Most of the years in which the settlement covers the time Foulkes oversaw the pharmacy function.
"Putting these claims behind us is in the best interest of all parties and helps sharpen our focus on delivering a personalized, connected health care experience for the millions of consumers who rely on us," said Thomas Moriarty, Chief Policy and External Affairs Officer and General Counsel, CVS Health. "We look forward to continuing our longstanding partnership with the State of Florida in providing programs, services and solutions to reduce the illegitimate use of opioid medications."
Kentucky: CVS "Fueled" Opioid Crisis
The Attorney General of Kentucky is one of many who have filed suit against CVS for the company’s role in the opioid epidemic.
Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed a lawsuit in June 2021 against CVS Health for the company’s role in Kentucky’s opioid epidemic. The lawsuit, filed in Franklin Circuit Court, alleges the company engaged in unlawful business practices and failed to guard against the diversion of opioids. CVS is not alone. The suit against CVS is the latest action to hold companies accountable for their role in the Commonwealth’s opioid crisis, said Cameron.
“During the height of the opioid epidemic, CVS allowed millions of dosage units of opioids to flood Kentucky’s borders, fueling the crisis and devastating thousands of families and communities across the Commonwealth,” said Cameron. “As both distributor and pharmacy, CVS was in a unique position to monitor and stop the peddling of these highly-addictive drugs from their stores, yet they ignored their own safeguard systems. By bringing this lawsuit on behalf of the people of Kentucky, we are holding CVS accountable for these decisions and for contributing to a man-made crisis that tragically led to the loss of life of thousands of Kentuckians.”
"CVS maintained over 100 separate license numbers in the Commonwealth as a 'wholesaler,' 'out-of-state pharmacy,' and 'retail pharmacy.' Between 2006 and 2014, CVS pharmacies in Kentucky purchased more than 151 million dosage units of oxycodone and hydrocodone from its own distribution centers and third-party distributors, accounting for nearly 6.1 percent of the total dosage units in the Commonwealth during this time," according to Cameron.
“One CVS store, located in Perry County, purchased over 6.8 million dosage units of oxycodone and hydrocodone from 2006 to 2014, which was enough opioids for every man, woman, and child in the county to have over 26 pills every year during the same period. A CVS in Crittenden County bought over 2.8 million dosage units of the drugs, enough to supply everyone in the county with over 34 pills every year,” according to Cameron.
In the federal lawsuit, Kentucky claims, “CVS played a dual role in creating, fueling, and maintaining the opioid epidemic within Kentucky’s borders — (1) through their retail pharmacies, as dispensers of opioids to the public, and (2) as a wholesale distributor, taking and shipping orders to and from their own pharmacies. Occupying two links in the opioid supply chain, CVS was in a unique and superior position of knowledge with regard to the gross amount of opioids pumped into their stores and poured out onto the streets of Kentucky.”
Foulkes campaign website states, “She held nearly every leadership position, including president of retail where she was responsible for 200,000 employees and eighty billion dollars in revenue.”
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