Omnicare Inc., a subsidiary of pharmacy operator CVS Health, has agreed to pay a $15.3 million penalty to settle federal allegations that it allowed for the dispensation of opioids and other drugs without a valid prescription.

Authorities charged that Omnicare violated the Controlled Substances Act in its deliveries of prescription medications to long-term care facilities. The medications reportedly did not contain some of the necessary documentation, and the company let employees of the care facilities remove opioids and other controlled substances from emergency kits before obtaining prescriptions from doctors.

“The abuse of opioids and other controlled substances has taken a heavy toll in Colorado and our country,” said the U.S. Attorney for Colorado, Jason R. Dunn.  “It is critical that every company involved in the dispensing of these drugs strictly follows the controls required by law.” Omnicare has two pharmacies in Colorado: one in Pueblo and the other in Grand Junction.

Omnicare filled prescriptions daily for the patients in the facilities, while also compiling the kits for emergency drug dispensations. In addition to the monetary settlement, Omnicare will also increase its auditing and monitoring of the emergency kits.

“In the case of an emergency situation,” federal law provides, “a pharmacist may dispense a controlled substance listed in Schedule II upon receiving oral authorization of a prescribing individual practitioner,” as long as there is a subsequent written prescription. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Denver field division was among the entities involved in the investigation, along with Dunn’s office. Omnicare did not admit to any culpability in the settlement.