The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California has charged FedEx for allegedly knowingly distributing controlled substances and prescription drugs to consumers in the U.S. who do not have a valid prescription, according to a news release from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The company was indicted July 17 on 15 felony counts that it conspired with illegal online pharmacies to deliver the drugs. FedEx potentially faces $1.6 billion in penalties regarding the allegations, according to an Associated Press report.
FedEx employees had allegedly identified more than 600 accounts associated with online pharmacies by September 2010, according to the FDA news release.
The company said intervening and stopping deliveries that may contain illegally prescribed drugs would violate customers' privacy, according to the AP report.
"We are a transportation company — we are not law enforcement," said FedEx spokesperson Patrick Fitzgerald in the report.
FedEx plans to fight the charges.
FedEx is not the first shipping company to face such charges. In 2013, UPS paid $40 million to settle similar allegations and admitted its employees knew online pharmacies were sending such controlled substances using its services. UPS also appointed a compliance officer and an outside auditor to monitor online pharmacies, according to the report.
Additionally, in 2011, Google paid $500 million to settle allegations that it profited from ads purchased by online pharmacies that the company knew was illegally selling prescription drugs, according to the report.
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