Kroger Co. has agreed to pay $68 million to resolve claims by West Virginia that supermarket chain failed to properly monitor opioid prescriptions filled by the company’s in-store pharmacies.
(Bloomberg) — Kroger Co. has agreed to pay $68 million to resolve claims by West Virginia that supermarket chain failed to properly monitor opioid prescriptions filled by the company’s in-store pharmacies.
The company was the last defendant to settle as part of a suit brought by the West Virginia attorney general’s office against providers of pharmacy services for mishandling opioid prescriptions. Other defendants included Walmart Inc., Rite Aid Corp. and CVS Health Corp.
Kroger agreed to pay $34 million immediately and $24 million over the next two years, state officials said in a release. Another $10 million will be paid by 2032.
“While we continue to believe that the allegations made against Kroger in this and other opioid lawsuits are without merit, we have decided that a settlement is the best path forward to resolve this litigation,” the company said Thursday in an emailed statement.
The state accused Kroger and other pharmacy providers of bringing in excessive amounts of the highly addictive painkillers, fueling a public-health epidemic. West Virginia is one of the states most-ravaged by the opioid crisis, which has killed more than half a million Americans over two decades.
Walmart and CVS had already agreed to pay more than $147 million combined to resolve West Virginia’s claims, while Rite Aid handed over $30 million. The state says it has recovered more than $875 million in settlements to beef up treatment and social-services budgets.
More than 3,000 state and local governments have sued opioid makers, distributors and sellers seeking compensation for billions of tax dollars spent battling the public-health crisis spawned by the painkillers. Total recoveries across the US are expected to exceed $50 billion once all payments are made.
The case is In RE Opioid Litigation, Civil Action No. 21-C-9000-PHARM, Kanawha County Circuit Court (Charleston)
(Updates with Kroger statement, other settlements.)
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