Tuesday 20 September 2022 11:32 PM CVS Health and Walmart reach $147 MILLION opioid settlement with West Virginia trends now
CVS Health Corp and Walmart Inc have agreed to pay $147.5 million to settle West Virginia's claims over their alleged roles in the state's opioid crisis, state attorney general Patrick Morrisey said Tuesday.
West Virginia had been prepared to proceed to trial on September 26 against those two companies and Walgreens Boots Alliance.
The state had accused the pharmacy chains of fueling the deadly opioid epidemic through their allegedly lax oversight of prescription pills sold in the state.
'These settlements won't bring back the lives lost from the opioid epidemic, but these and other settlements will hopefully provide significant help to those affected the most by this crisis in our state,' Morrisey said.
Walgreens has not settled, and a trial has been rescheduled for June 2023.
'We believe that we have a very strong case against Walgreens,' Morrisey said at a news conference. 'We're going to pursue that quite vigorously.'
The state has been particularly hard hit by the epidemic, with a per capita opioid mortality rate over three times the national average in 2020, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics.
Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced a $147.5 million settlement agreed upon by CVS Health Corp and Walmart Inc. The state sued the companies and alleged they fueled the opioid crisis
The state had accused the pharmacy chains of fueling the deadly opioid epidemic
The lawsuit occurs amid the ongoing opioid crisis in West Virginia. The state has been particularly hard hit by the epidemic, with a per capita opioid mortality rate over three times the national average in 2020
The West Virginia lawsuit further alleged the pharmacies' oversupply of opioids has resulted in 'significant losses through their past and ongoing medical treatment cost, including for minors born addicted to opioids, rehabilitation costs, naloxone costs, medical examiner expenses [and] self-funded state insurance costs.'
Money from the settlement will be used to address the opioid crisis in West Virginia.
Opioids were the cause of more than 68,000
