Walgreen Sues to Set Aside Controlled Substance Pharmacy Policy

Walgreen Co. has sued a federal regulator to invalidate a policy that it says unlawfully imposes an obligation on pharmacies to ensure the legitimacy of prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids like fentanyl, before filling them.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration rolled out a dispensing policy that’s arbitrary, capricious, and was adopted without notice and comment rulemaking required by the Administrative Procedure Act, the company said in a complaint filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Thursday. The court should set aside DEA’s policy, the retailer said.

DEA tightened its enforcement of the Controlled ...