Healthcare company CVS Health, pharmacy company Walgreens Boots Alliance and supermarket group Walmart have reportedly settled for their role in the so-called opiate crisis in the United States.
According to insiders, the three major concerns have tentatively agreed to pay more than $12 billion to buy off thousands of lawsuits from states and local governments.
Opiates are heavy painkillers, and countless Americans have become addicted to morphine-like drugs such as oxycodone and fentanyl in recent years. Government agencies accuse the companies of downplaying the addiction risks of the painkillers and sacrificing patient safety for billions in profit. They would also have done too little to detect forged prescriptions for the painkillers.
Companies such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, where the painkillers could be bought, are therefore partly responsible for the flood of pills on the market that has killed more than half a million Americans over the past two decades.
Under the proposed settlement, CVS would pay $4.9 billion, Walgreens at least $4 billion and Walmart at $3 billion. CVS representatives confirmed their portion of the settlement on Wednesday and also said they would pay $130 million to settle Native American opiate cases. The settlement will be paid out over ten years, CVS said.
“We are pleased to resolve these long-running claims and put them behind us is in the best interests of all parties,” said Thomas Moriarty, CVS general counsel. Spokespersons for Walgreens and Walmart declined to comment on the proposed settlement.
