Kroger Agrees to Pay $110 Million to Resolve Kentucky Opioid Lawsuit

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has announced a multimillion-dollar settlement in the state’s case against Kroger.

The Case

The state of Kentucky alleged that Kroger helped fuel a deadly opioid epidemic by flooding communities with millions of doses of the addictive pain medication. The lawsuit, filed in state court last year, alleged that Kroger’s over 100 pharmacies in the state had been responsible for over 11% of all opioid pills dispensed in Kentucky from 2006 to 2019—totaling approximately 444 million opioid doses.

The lawsuit alleged that Kroger should have known that the drugs were being used for illegal purposes, given the high volume of prescriptions and other red flags, yet chose to ignore the evidence. The suit also accused the chain of not taking any measures to stop shipments or refuse to fill questionable prescriptions. Instead, claimed the attorney general, Kroger continued to ship huge quantities of opioids throughout Kentucky, a state hard hit by the opioid crisis.

The Settlement

Last year, Kroger finalized a $1.4 billion deal to resolve similar claims brought by 30 states, as well as counties, municipalities, and Native American Tribes. Kentucky declined to participate in that settlement. Had the state participated, it would have recovered $66.6 million—substantially lower than the current settlement.

Although Kroger agreed to pay $110 million to resolve the lawsuit, it did not admit wrongdoing. The company pushed back at the state’s allegations that the chain had no safeguards in place regarding filling opioid prescriptions, calling such allegations “patently false.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 727 000 people in the US have died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2022.

The Takeaway

It is not unusual for a company to settle a case without admitting wrongdoing or, in some cases, denying wrongdoing. Settling a case is often wise, as the results of litigation are always uncertain. This was even specifically mentioned in the settlement document: “The Parties recognize that the outcome of the Action is uncertain and a final resolution through the adversarial process likely would require protracted litigation.” Settling avoids the expense and stress of a trial and allows the defendant to resolve the case without an admission of liability.

Reference

The Commonwealth of Kentucky v the Kroger Co.; Kroger Limited Partnership I; and Kroger Limited Partnership II. No 24-CI-00154. Commonwealth of Kentucky Bullitt Circuit Court, Division One; 2025. https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/mypmbwzjyvr/01092024kentucky_settle.pdf