West Virginia and Walgreens reached an $83 million settlement, resolving claims over Walgreens’ role in perpetuating the opioid crisis in West Virginia.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit by West Virginia that alleges Walgreens failed to maintain effective controls against diversion, thereby contributing to an oversupply of opioids in the state. According to the complaint, “Walgreens filled suspicious orders of prescription opioids of unusual size, orders deviating substantially from a normal pattern and orders of unusual frequency to its own pharmacies.” The complaint went on to allege that Walgreens “supplied far more opioids to their pharmacies than could have served a legitimate market for these drugs.”
In the complaint, West Virginia also argued that “distributors are not entitled to be passive observers, but rather ‘shall inform the Field Division Office of the Administration in his area of suspicious orders when discovered by the registrant.’” Suspicious orders may include those of “unusual size, orders deviating substantially from a normal pattern, and orders of unusual frequency.”
Walgreens will pay the $83 million over an eight-year period and the money will be spread throughout the state to continue to combat the opioid crisis. In 2022, the state issued the West Virginia First Memorandum of Understanding, which outlines the agreement between state and local governments on how to use settlement dollars to lessen the opioid crisis throughout the state.
In addition to the monetary settlement, Walgreens has also said that the company is working towards increasing patient education on safe opioid use and made Naloxone available in all of its pharmacies across the country.
This settlement is part of a larger litigation portfolio and follows settlements with Walmart and CVS ($65 million and $82.5 million, respectively) and Rite Aid (for $30 million). Kroger and West Virginia are scheduled for a trial in June over Kroger’s alleged failure to report suspicious drug orders to the Drug Enforcement Administration and the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy.
“We will continue to seek out justice for those affected the most by the opioid epidemic that hit our state the hardest,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in a statement. “This and other settlements will not bring back the lives lost from the opioid menace, but our hope is that the money would provide significant help to those affected the most by this crisis in West Virginia.”
“So many lives have been lost and shattered by this menace,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “We will continue to fight for those families and we will serve as the voices of the sons and daughters they have lost.”