The Mass.-based mail-order pharmacy Injured Workers Pharmacy settled charges that it dispensed excessive amounts of opioids without monitoring for safety. When reporting on the $11 mil. settlement, WorkCompCentral’s William Rabb asked Joe Paduda to comment. “A dozen years into the opioid crisis, it is stunning that any pharmacy would engage in the activities described in the AG’s complaint,” Paduda said. He advised payers to review all payments to IWP and assess amounts of opioids supplied to patients to make sure they are not in danger.

The state’s Attorney General Maura Healey’s complaint alleged that IWP “paid referral fees to doctors, claimants’ attorneys and others in exchange for the names of injured workers who were candidates for pain medication,” Rabb wrote. Its sales incentive plan required pharmacists to fill and ship new scripts the day they came in – even before verifying the patient’s address and workers’ comp claim. Read the whole article (subscription required).