Pharmacy store chains CVS and Walgreens announced on Wednesday they have agreed to pay a total of nearly $10 billion to “substantially resolve” various opioid-related lawsuits launched against them.
CVS and Walgreens are the two largest pharmacy chains in the United States by market share. The settlements, if finalized, would be the first nationwide deal reached with retail pharmacy companies, and could be among the largest settlements related to the opioid crisis.
In a release, CVS stated that the settlement “would fully resolve claims dating back a decade or more.” CVS added that it “will continue to defend against any litigation that the final agreement does not resolve.”
The exact amount to be paid would depend on how many governments plaintiffs take up on the deals, and could be reduced if not enough sign on, the companies noted.
CVS and Walgreens both said the agreements are not final until all conditions are satisfied and non-monetary terms are finalized.
Both companies also noted that the settlements do not constitute any admission of wrongdoing or liability.
CVS, Walgreens Commit to Reduce Illegitimate Prescription Opioid Use
Both CVS and Walgreens said they have taken multiple steps to help combat the opioid crisis, including by starting educational programs and installing safe disposal units in stores and police departments for unused drugs. Both have also made life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication, such as Naxolone, available in their stores nationwide.Thomas Moriarty, chief policy officer and general counsel of CVS, said in a statement that the settlement is “in the best interest of all parties, as well as our customers, colleagues, and shareholders.” He added: “We are committed to working with states, municipalities and tribes, and will continue our own important initiatives to help reduce the illegitimate use of prescription opioids.”
Walgreens said in a statement that it remains “committed to being a part of the solution,” adding: “[T]his settlement framework will allow us to keep our focus on the health and wellbeing of our customers and patients, while making positive contributions to address the opioid crisis.”
Paul Geller, one of the lawyers who negotiated for the governments, said that settlements with pharmacies “will bring billions of additional dollars to communities that are desperate for funds to combat the epidemic” of opioid addiction.
“We know that reckless, profit-driven dispensing practices fueled the crisis; but we know just as surely that with better systems in place and proper heeding of red flag warnings, pharmacies can play a direct role in reducing opioid abuse and in saving lives,” Geller said.
Since the 1990s, the United States has seen increasing waves of opioid abuse. The first wave hit in the 1990s, driven by prescription opioids. The second wave was driven by illicit heroin in 2010. The third wave, starting from 2013, is from illicit synthetic opioids, including fentanyl and tramadol.
Most opioid overdose deaths in the United States had initially involved prescription drugs. But as governments, doctors, and companies made them harder to abuse and obtain, people addicted to them increasingly switched to illicit heroin and an illicitly-produced version of fentanyl.
Manufacturers of illegal drugs add fentanyl to heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, and other drugs to make the drugs more powerful and cheaper to produce. Just two milligrams of fentanyl—equivalent to 10–15 grains of table salt—is considered a lethal dose.
The Chinese Communist Party has been using fentanyl trafficking as a form of chemical warfare against the United States.
