Two of America’s largest pharmacies have agreed to pay more than $10 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits over their role in the US opioid crisis.
The proposed deals with CVS and Walgreens mark the latest chapter in a long legal saga that has seen companies face claims they have fueled the abuse of addictive painkillers.
Settlements with drug manufacturers and distributors have already raised more than $30 billion.
The pharmacies have denied wrongdoing.
But they recently lost some high-profile, smaller lawsuits when a judge ordered the two companies and Walmart to pay more than $650 million (£567 million) to two Ohio counties.
Speaking to analysts over the phone, CVS chief Karen Lynch said the settlement was in “the best interests of all parties and helps put a decades-old problem behind us.”
Local governments, Native American tribes and others behind the more than 3,000 lawsuits will now decide whether or not to accept the settlement. It would allow them to channel money to help them deal with the local costs of a crisis that the US says has claimed more than 650,000 lives since 1999.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs, who helped negotiate the deal, called the proposal an “important step” in holding pharmacies “accountable.”
“Once effective, these agreements will be the first decisions taken with pharmacy chains and will equip communities across the country with the much-needed tools to fight this epidemic and bring about tangible, positive change,” das said Legal team in a statement.
The situation has worsened since former US President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency in 2017.
Overdoses with opioids, including prescription pills and heroin, rose 38% in 2020 and another 15% last year, with illicitly manufactured fentanyl sparking the latest crisis, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The situation has strained public resources, with the economic toll of the opioid crisis increasing to $1.5 trillion in 2020 alone, according to a congressional report last month.
Lawsuits filed by local communities, Native American tribes and other parties since 2017 have accused the pharmacy chains of ignoring warning signs when handling prescriptions for the drugs.
CVS said it would pay about $5 billion over 10 years to settle the claims, while Walgreens Boots Alliance has agreed to pay $5.7 billion over 15 years.
Walmart also struck a $3.1 billion deal, Reuters reported. Walmart declined to comment.
Add Comment