OptumRx pays $20M to settle federal opioid investigation

OptumRx is paying $20 million to settle allegations the company broke federal law by mailing opioids alongside other medications without resolving red flags about whether they were for legitimate medical purposes.

The Drug Enforcement Administration says OptumRx may have “improperly filled certain opioid prescriptions in combination with other drugs” including benzodiazepines and muscle relaxants between 2013 and 2015.

“The trinity style prescription combination helped fuel the start of the opioid addiction crisis and raises a red flag, which this registrant should have recognized and reacted to rather than putting profits before patients’ safety,” DEA Assistant Administrator Thomas Prevoznik said in a news release Thursday.

OptumRx is a division of Eden Prairie-based pharmacy benefits manager Optum, which is owned by UnitedHealth Group.

The company made changes to its opioid protocols in 2017 and again to all of its controlled substance prescriptions in 2020. OptumRx also closed the California pharmacy where the allegedly problematic prescriptions originated.

The company does not admit liability as part of the settlement and declined to comment on the matter.

Earlier this week the state of Arkansas sued Optum over its alleged role in fueling the opioid epidemic there. Optum said in response the company “takes the opioid epidemic seriously and has taken a comprehensive approach to fight this issue, including the Opioid Risk Management Program available to all OptumRx clients, to address opioid abuse and promote patient health.”

More than 800,000 Americans have died of opioid overdoses since 1999, according to federal data. The economic cost of overdoses and opioid use disorder surpassed $1 trillion in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Minnesota, the economic toll was $8.4 billion that year.

Optum had $226 billion in revenue last year.