Current:Home > NewsWalmart offers to pay $3.1 billion to settle opioid lawsuits -WealthTrack
Walmart offers to pay $3.1 billion to settle opioid lawsuits
View
Date:2025-04-12 18:21:28
Retail giant Walmart on Tuesday become the latest major player in the drug industry to announce a plan to settle lawsuits filed by state and local governments over the toll of powerful prescription opioids sold at its pharmacies with state and local governments across the U.S.
The $3.1 billion proposal follows similar announcements Nov. 2 from the two largest U.S. pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co., which each said they would pay about $5 billion.
Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart said in a statement that it "strongly disputes" allegations in lawsuits from state and local governments that its pharmacies improperly filled prescriptions for the powerful prescription painkillers. The company does not admit liability with the settlement plan.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a release that the company would have to comply with oversight measures, prevent fraudulent prescriptions and flag suspicious ones.
Lawyers representing local governments said the company would pay most of the settlement over the next year if it is finalized.
The deals are the product of negotiations with a group of state attorneys general, but they are not final. The CVS and Walgreens deals would have to be accepted first by a critical mass of state and local governments before they are completed. Walmart's plan would have to be approved by 43 states. The formal process has not yet begun.
The national pharmacies join some of the biggest drugmakers and drug distributors in settling complex lawsuits over their alleged roles in an opioid overdose epidemic that has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the past two decades.
The tally of proposed and finalized settlements in recent years is more than $50 billion, with most of that to be used by governments to combat the crisis.
In the 2000s, most fatal opioid overdoses involved prescription drugs such as OxyContin and generic oxycodone. After governments, doctors and companies took steps to make them harder to obtain, people addicted to the drugs increasingly turned to heroin, which proved more deadly.
In recent years, opioid deaths have soared to record levels around 80,000 a year. Most of those deaths involve illicitly produced version of the powerful lab-made drug fentanyl, which is appearing throughout the U.S. supply of illegal drugs.
veryGood! (51)
Related
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- 2024 Ford Mustang goes back to the '80s in salute to a hero from Detroit’s darkest days
- Trucking works to expand diversity, partly due to a nationwide shortage of drivers
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $400 Triple Compartment Shoulder Bag for $89
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- The Mega Millions jackpot has soared to $1.25 billion. Here’s how hard it is to win
- Ex-Border Patrol agent charged with seeking $5,000 bribe from migrant
- Poorly designed crossing contributed to fatal 2022 Missouri Amtrak derailment, officials say
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- The U.S. loses its top AAA rating from Fitch over worries about the nation's finances
Ranking
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- Connecticut Sun's Alyssa Thomas becomes first WNBA player to record 20-20-10 triple-double
- Toddler dies in hot car after grandmother forgets to drop her off at daycare in New York
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $400 Triple Compartment Shoulder Bag for $89
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- A powerful typhoon pounds Japan’s Okinawa and injures more than 20 people as it moves toward China
- Taco Bell exaggerates how much beef it uses in some menu items, lawsuit alleges
- Wisconsin lawsuit asks new liberal-controlled Supreme Court to toss Republican-drawn maps
Recommendation
Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
Some of Niger’s neighbors defend the coup there, even hinting at war. It’s a warning for Africa
U.S. women advance in World Cup with 0-0 draw against Portugal
Stolen car hits 10 people and other vehicles in Manhattan as driver tries to flee, police say
What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
Connecticut Sun's Alyssa Thomas becomes first WNBA player to record 20-20-10 triple-double
Politicians urge Taylor Swift to postpone LA concerts in solidarity with striking hotel workers
Black bear, cub killed after man attacked while opening garage door in Idaho