Bryan A. Schneider, currently the Associate Director of Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending Division for the CFPB, was formerly a top executive and lobbyist for Walgreen Co.
- Worked as Walgreen Co.’s top lobbyist for over three years, then held various executive positions for the company.
- While working as the Vice President for the company’s Pharmacy, Health, And Wellness Division from 2010 to 2015:
- Schneider continued to “collaborat[e]” with the company’s lobbying staff in “developing policies”, and “communicate[d] with regulators to identify compliance strategies that achieve corporate objectives.”
- The company lobbied on legislation that would have made “any substance containing Hydrocodone”—an opioid—”A Schedule II Drug”, defined by the Drug Enforcement Agency as “drugs with a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence.”
- Walgreens was active with The National Association Of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) as it directly urged the the Food And Drug Administration (FDA) to “reject Hydrocodone rescheduling” after one of its Committees voted to move the drug to Schedule II, which would have made it harder to acquire.
- In 2019, a Federal Judge ruled that juries should weigh whether Walgreen Boots Alliance, formerly Walgreen Co., undertook “‘coordinated efforts’” from 2012 to 2016 to “commit ‘unlawful acts’ in the marketing, delivering, and selling of Opioids.” This period included three years Schneider held responsibility for Walgreens’ “compliance strategies.”
- The Judge suggested Walgreens Executives worked to “‘reroute’” supplies to keep stores stocked with opioids when they learned the DEA “might shutter” one if its distribution facilities in 2013.
- The Judge suggested Walgreens “‘shared a general conspiratorial objective […] to expand the opioid market and disregard regulatory obligations.’”
- In what could be “The biggest civil trial In US history,” 2,000 cities and counties have filed claims against Walgreens and other companies in the opioid business for having “fueled” a crisis that “kills more than 100 Americans daily” and has killed more than 400,000.