CVS and Walgreens Announce Huge Opioid Settlement

In early November 2022, two of the biggest pharmacy chains in the United States announced agreements to end nationwide litigation over the devastating toll of opioids. CVS Health and Walgreen Co announced agreements to pay approximately $5 billion each to settle their role in contributing to the opioid crisis. Neither company is admitting wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The settlement will resolve the many lawsuits against the companies brought by state attorney generals. The state governments are also in current settlement talks with Walmart.

CVS would pay $4.9 billion to local governments and approximately $130 million to Native American tribes over 10 years, while Walgreens would pay $4.8 billion to local governments and approximately $155 million to Native American tribes over 15 years. Most of the money will be used to combat the opioid crisis by expanding treatment and support programs for people with opioid use disorder and providing overdose antidotes and prevention techniques. Both companies have launched educational programs and installed safe disposal units for drugs in stores and in local police departments as part of efforts to reduce opioid misuse.

In the last few years, opioid deaths have skyrocketed to almost 80,000 per year. "One by one, we are holding every player in the addiction industry accountable for the millions of lives lost or devastated by the opioid epidemic," Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. "The companies that helped to create and fuel this crisis must commit to changing their businesses practices, and to providing the resources needed for treatment, prevention, and recovery."

Lawyers for local governments noted that in addition to the monetary settlement, the companies “have committed to making significant improvements to their dispensing practices to help reduce addiction moving forward.”

Reference:
Mulvihill G. CVS, Walgreens announce opioid settlements totaling $10 billion. PBS. November 2, 2022. Accessed December 9, 2022. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/cvs-walgreens-announce-opioid-settlements-totaling-10-billion