West Virginia pharmacy settles prescription pain pill suit

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A pharmacy accused of dispensing millions of prescription pain pills in West Virginia has agreed to a $550,000 settlement with the state.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says in a news release the settlement of a lawsuit involving Larry’s Drive-In Pharmacy in Madison resolves allegations that it helped fuel the state’s opioid crisis.

Morrisey sued the pharmacy in 2016, accusing it of providing nearly 10 million doses of painkillers in 11 years in a county with fewer than 25,000 residents.

The lawsuit accused the pharmacy of failing to identify suspicious prescriptions that it filled, dispensing far more doses than Boone County’s 11 other retail pharmacies.

The pharmacy has permanently ceased operations.

Similar lawsuits have been filed by Morrisey against Crab Orchard Pharmacy Inc. of Crab Orchard and Judy’s Drug Store Inc. of Petersburg.