CVS, Walmart reach $147.5 million opioid settlement with West Virginia

By Dietrich Knauth

(Reuters) -CVS Well being Corp and Walmart Inc have agreed to pay $147.5 million to settle West Virginia’s claims over their alleged roles within the state’s opioid disaster, state legal professional common Patrick Morrisey mentioned Tuesday.

CVS agreed to pay $82.5 million and Walmart agreed to pay roughly $65 million, in keeping with the state.

West Virginia had been ready to proceed to trial on Sept. 26 in opposition to the 2 corporations, in addition to Walgreens Boots Alliance.

The state had accused the pharmacy chains of fueling the lethal opioid epidemic by their allegedly lax oversight of prescription drugs bought within the state.

Walgreens has not settled, and a trial has been rescheduled for June 2023.

“We consider that we have now a really robust case in opposition to Walgreens,” Morrisey mentioned at a information convention. “We’ll pursue that fairly vigorously.”

Kroger Co. may even be a defendant within the rescheduled June 2023 trial.

West Virginia has been significantly onerous hit by the epidemic, with a per capita opioid mortality price over thrice the nationwide common in 2020, in keeping with information from the Nationwide Heart for Well being Statistics.

CVS mentioned that it’s going to proceed to defend itself in different opioid lawsuits, however believed that “placing these claims behind us” was the correct determination within the West Virginia case.

“Our place stays that opioid prescriptions are written by medical doctors, not pharmacists, and that opioid drugs are made and marketed by producers, not pharmacies,” CVS spokesman Michael DeAngelis mentioned.

Walmart and Walgreens didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Greater than 3,300 lawsuits have been filed in opposition to drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies over the disaster.

The litigation has more and more focused pharmacy chains in current months, after drug makers and distributors reached main nationwide settlements, together with a $26 billion cope with the three main drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson, addressing their liabilities.

Walgreens has resisted settlements in different opioid circumstances introduced by state and native governments this yr. It was the final defendant to settle a lawsuit over Florida’s opioid claims, and it was the only real defendant to go to trial over San Francisco’s opioid claims.

Walgreens was discovered responsible for fueling opioid dependancy in San Francisco, and the quantity it should pay can be decided in a future trial.

Walgreens, CVS and Walmart had been discovered responsible for contributing to the opioid disaster in two Ohio counties, and had been ordered to pay $650 million in that case.

(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth; enhancing by Invoice Berkrot, Alexia Garamfalvi and Richard Pullin)