On Wednesday, the Justice Department unsealed a civil complaint alleging that CVS Pharmacy Inc. and its subsidiaries filled “unlawful” prescriptions, violating the federal Controlled Substances Act and contributing to the opiate crisis that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
The complaint also accuses CVS of seeking reimbursement from federal healthcare programs for these illicit prescriptions, in violation of the False Claims Act.
The DOJ claims that since October 2013, CVS knowingly filled prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose, including “dispensing massive quantities of opioids”, early fills, and dangerous “trinity” prescriptions—combinations of opioids, benzodiazepines, and muscle relaxants. CVS is also accused of filling prescriptions from “pill mill” doctors—those who issue large volumes of prescriptions without medical justification.
Prosecutors assert that CVS ignored evidence from its own pharmacists including data that showed the unlawful prescriptions being filled at its stores. The government also points to staffing shortages that hindered pharmacists’ ability to properly verify prescriptions, accusing CVS’s corporate practices of prioritizing “profits over safety.” The DOJ argues that these actions played a role in fueling the opioid epidemic, which has led to a devastating number of overdose deaths across the nation.
The complaint states:
CVS’s actions contributed to the opioid crisis, a national public health emergencywith devastating effects in the United States. Over the past decade, hundreds of thousands of Americans have died as the result of overdoses from opioids and other controlled substances,including from the illegitimate use of prescription opioids and other prescription drugs. […]
— Read More: redstate.com
Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
The same can be said about our preparedness sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals. Their long-term storage beef has a 25-year shelf life and is made with one ingredient: All-American Beef.
Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
