CVS and Walgreens Agree to Settle for Billions Over Opioid Epidemic

The two companies both shared similarly worded statements on the settlements, while Walmart is reported to also be nearing its own settlement.

November 2, 2022

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CVS and Walgreens have announced nationwide settlements, each worth billions of dollars, in lawsuits filed against them in connection with the opioid epidemic. Additionally, per reports, Walmart is also expected to be doing the same.

In a statement shared Wednesday, CVS Health announced it had reached an agreement in principle under which it will pay an estimated $5 billion over a 10-year period starting next year. This payment, the company said, would “fully resolve” any related claims.

Walgreens, meanwhile, said in a statement also shared on Wednesday that it had agreed in principle to settle opioid claims against the company by way of a $4.95 billion settlement to be issued over a 15-year period. Expectedly, both companies’ statements also note that these settlements do not include admissions of wrongdoing.

As for Walmart, Reuters reported on Wednesday that the company had agreed to pay $3.1 billion, at least according to sources “familiar with the matter.” Bloombergalso reported the same figure, although Walmart had not confirmed this or shared a public statement at the time of this writing.

When reached by Complex on Wednesday, a Walmart spokesperson declined to comment.

In January, a California doctor will be sentenced after pleading guilty earlier this year in connection with the illegal prescriptions of over 120,000 opioid pills. Per a regional report from the Orange County Register, Dr. Dzung Ahn Pham is facing as much as two decades behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. In exchange for prescriptions, Pham is said to have accepted “cash and insurance payments” starting in early 2013 and until late 2018.