In an investigation conducted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, it has been found that two of CVS Health Corp pharmacies in central Florida were selling strong, potentially addictive painkillers that were not allowed for legitimate medical purposes.

In order to settle the case, CVS Health Corp, the second-largest US drugstore operator, has agreed to pay $22 million in the form of penalty.

In 2012, the DEA prohibited the stores from selling many controlled substances, including OxyContin, Vicodin, Ritalin and Xanax among others.

“Prescription drug addicts were traveling to Florida, known as the nation's epicenter for the illegal distribution of prescription drugs, for access to physicians who were prescribing pain medication without regard to medical need and to pharmacies that were filling the prescriptions”, a statement from the US Attorney’s Office.

An investigation was carried out in which pharmacists at two stores were found to fill prescriptions on regular basis for customers who asked for oxycodone. These pharmacists also provided oxycodone to customers living in Kentucky.

These customers used to get their prescriptions from South Florida doctors and then purchased the drugs in Seminole County. Prosecutors were of the view that the CVS does acknowledge that its retail pharmacies should have only sold those prescriptions that were based on legitimate medical need, but they failed to do so.

On Wednesday, the settlement was announced, around after three years US Drug Enforcement Administration licenses were revoked for these two pharmacies. Revoking of licenses was part of a mission in Florida aimed to end illegal sales of controlled substances.

CVS said that in the settlement, their all civil matters have been resolved between the company based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and the DEA in Florida.