PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- The federal lawsuit against CVS Health unsealed on Wednesday could reshape the state's next race for governor, as one of the players involved is a leading candidate for the job. The civil complaint filed by Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha alleges CVS executives turned a blind eye as the opioid crisis worsened, allowing illegal prescriptions to be filled and mismanaging the company's chain of retail pharmacies. In some cases, prosecutors allege, "patients died after overdosing on opioids shortly after filling unlawful prescriptions at CVS." RELATED: Federal suit accuses CVS of unlawfully filling opioid prescriptions The period cited in the lawsuit begins in October 2013 -- just months before Helena Foulkes started her four-year tenure as president of CVS Pharmacy Inc., the company's retail division, which is the lead defendant in the federal suit. Foulkes narrowly lost the Democratic nomination for Rhode Island governor in 2022 and she's preparing to run again in 2026. "This lawsuit alleges that CVS failed to exercise its critical role as gatekeeper of dangerous prescription opioids and, instead, facilitated the illegal distribution of these highly addictive drugs, including by pill mill prescribers," Cunha said in a statement. According to the complaint, "CVS's violations resulted from corporate-mandated performance metrics, incentive compensation, and staffing policies that prioritized corporate profits over patient safety. CVS set staffing levels far too low for pharmacists to both meet their performance metrics and comply with their legal obligations." Prosecutors also allege CVS executives kept pharmacists in the dark about information that could have helped them stop opioid abuse, barring them from warning each other about questionable prescribers. "When corporations such as CVS prize profits over patient safety and overburden their pharmacy staff so that they cannot carry out the basic responsibility of ensuring that prescriptions are legitimate, we will use every tool at our disposal to see that they answer for it," Cunha said. Foulkes' tenure at CVS has already been used against her by opponents. In 2022, as Foulkes was gaining strength in the final days of the Democratic primary, Gov. Dan McKee's campaign aired a TV ad that accused her of "pumping opioids into our homes." In a statement to 12 News, Foulkes agreed that the opioid crisis "has devastated families across America," but suggested prosecutors are mischaracterizing what occurred during her tenure. The timing of the behavior alleged in the lawsuit extends far past Foulkes' departure from CVS in January 2018 and up to the present day. "As president of CVS Health from 2014 to 2018, we confronted this crisis head-on, implementing controls that cut opioid prescriptions by 45%," Foulkes said. "I led a team which did this by leveraging technology to identify doctors who were abusing the system and enacting procedures to prevent overprescribing prescriptions. Even with all this work we were sued by doctors and some state AGs for not filling enough opioids." "This followed our landmark decision to remove cigarettes from all CVS stores -- sacrificing $2 billion in revenue to protect public health," Foulkes continued. Referencing one of the leading makers of opioid drugs, she added: "While Purdue Pharma concealed the truth, we took decisive action." During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Cunha declined to answer questions about the specific role played by Foulkes or any other individual executive during the period of time that prosecutors examined. "We are alleging the corporation was aware – there were a sufficient number of individuals at a sufficient level of accountability within the corporation that were aware such that we allege the corporation was liable," Cunha said. "We're not making specific allegations as to any individuals at this time." CVS is the biggest company in Rhode Island as well as one of the largest businesses in the country, with over 7,000 employees statewide as of October. The suit has its origins in 2019, when a whistleblower and former CVS employee named Hillary Estright challenged the company in court over the opioid issue. Federal prosecutors later took over the case. In their own statement responding to the lawsuit, CVS leaders noted that they cooperated with the investigation for four years. They accused prosecutors of filing a "misguided" complaint that pushes a "false narrative," and noted CVS has already reached a global settlement with state attorneys general over its conduct in the opioid crisis. "Each of the prescriptions in question was for an FDA-approved opioid medication prescribed by a practitioner who the government itself licensed, authorized, and empowered to write controlled-substance prescriptions," said CVS spokesperson Kara Page. She said the litigation relies on "litigation theories" that aren't backed up by government statutes or regulations. Page also insisted CVS has been "an industry leader" in its response to opioid abuse. "As one example, 12 years ago CVS Pharmacy pioneered a first-of-its-kind program to block controlled-substance prescriptions written by doctors of potential concern," she said. "To date, we have blocked more than 1,250 practitioners, including nearly 600 prescribers who the government continues to license." Ted Nesi ([email protected]) is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesi's Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter, Bluesky and Facebook. Eli Sherman ([email protected]) is a Target 12 investigative reporter for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and on Facebook. Anita Baffoni contributed to this report. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup SIGN UP NOW