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(Photo: McClaren Health Care Corp.)
McLaren Health Care Corp. of Grand Blanc, with 14-hospitals, agreed Tuesday with the Justice Department to pay a record $7.75 million penalty following a multi-year probe by the DEA into illegal distribution of opioids and other drugs without prescriptions.
“At nearly $7.8 million, this is the largest civil Controlled Substances Act settlement in American history involving a health care system whose internal practices were so deficient that it allowed the diversion of drugs, including opioids,” said Detroit U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider in a statement. “McLaren clearly didn’t have a sufficient system in place to catch these problems. But now, under this settlement, McLaren is stepping up and implementing more robust compliance measures."
A DEA probe found that employees at McLaren pharmacies in Michigan allegedly diverted drugs from about 2014 to 2019 and violated federal laws, officials said.
The hospital admitted:
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The McLaren Port Huron and Yale Pharmacies did not have written prescriptions for approximately 1,255 Schedule II prescriptions between May 1, 2014 and. Feb. 22, 2018.
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MHCC’s Prescription Services pharmacy distributed controlled substances to an unregistered treatment facility in Boyne Falls, Mich. between Nov. 22, 2015 and Nov. 13, 2017 without making a good faith inquiry into whether that treatment facility was registered with DEA.
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McLaren Greater Lansing did not notify DEA of certain thefts of controlled substances between July 27, 2007 and May 31, 2019.
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Theft and diversion of controlled substances occurred at some locations.
"Hospitals and health systems handle significant quantities of controlled substances and must fulfill their legal obligations for handling those drugs under the Controlled Substances Act," said Grand Rapids U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge in a statement.
