CVS, Walmart, Walgreens agree to $13.8B opioid settlement: report
The $13.8B agreement would be the first nationwide deal involving major retail pharmacies, with cases still pending against smaller retailers
Three major retailers have tentatively reached an agreement to resolve thousands of state and local government lawsuits involving opioid painkillers.
CVS Health Corp, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Walmart agreed to pay about $13.8 billion to resolve those suits, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
The proposed settlement breaks down this way: CVS to pay $5 billion over 10 years, Walgreens to pay $5.7 billion over 15 years and Walmart to pay $3.1 billion, mostly up front, the sources say.
CVS, Walmart and Walgreens declined to comment. A spokesperson for the plaintiffs' attorneys in the litigation did not immediately respond to Reuters for comment.
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This is a CVS Pharmacy sign is shown in Mount Lebanon, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar / AP Newsroom)
It would be the first nationwide deal with retail pharmacy companies, following nationwide opioid settlements with drugmakers and distributors totaling more than $33 billion.
State and local governments accused drugmakers of downplaying the risks of their opioid pain medicines, and distributors and pharmacies of ignoring red flags that prescriptions were being diverted into illegal trafficking.
More than 3,300 lawsuits have been filed since 2017.
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FILE - Photo shows OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot / AP Newsroom)
They said the resulting human toll, as well as strain on public health services and law enforcement, was a public nuisance that the companies must pay to fix.
CVS, Walgreens and Walmart are the three largest retail pharmacies in the country by market share.
Cases are still pending against smaller, more regionally focused pharmacy operators including Rite Aid Corp and Kroger Co.
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Photo shows a sign outside a Walgreens Pharmacy in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File / AP Newsroom)
Plaintiffs had scored some significant trial victories against pharmacy chains in states and cities like Ohio and San Francisco.
On the distributor level, settlements have netted $21 billion from the three largest, $5 billion from Johnson & Johnson, $4.35 billion from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, $2.37 billion from AbbVie and $450 million from Endo International.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVS | CVS HEALTH CORP. | 67.76 | -0.74 | -1.08% |
| WBA | WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE INC. | 17.81 | -0.24 | -1.33% |
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 59.86 | +0.78 | +1.32% |
Prescriptions for opioids rose sharply in the 1990s as companies aggressively promoted the drugs as a safe way to treat all kinds of chronic pain.
Overdoses involving opioids surged further during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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A congressional report last month put the economic toll of the opioid crisis in 2020 alone at $1.5 trillion.
Reuters contributed to this report.