CVS Bans Some Doctors Prescription Filling Privileges

The CVS Caremark Corporation revoked the dispensing privileges of 36 doctors. These physicians, out of a database of almost one million, routinely prescribed strong painkillers at rates well beyond the norm. For example, one doctor, practicing preventative medicine, was writing an average of over 44,000 doses of highly-addictive drugs, compared to approximately 660 doses other providers in the field were prescribing.

This step was taken, in part, because of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) crack-down on drug store chains such as CVS and the Walgreen Company, and distributors like Cardinal Health, to lower the amount of prescription drugs in cases of suspected abuse. (See “State Actions Vary in Rx Epidemic” on p. 3 for state efforts.)