CVS, Walmart, Walgreens agree to pay $13.8 bln to settle U.S. opioid claims - sources (updated)

Endo International

02/11/2022 02:09

(Updates with Reuters sourcing)
    By Brendan Pierson
       Nov 1 (Reuters) - CVS Health Corp  CVS.N , Walgreens
Boots Alliance Inc  WBA.O  and Walmart Inc  WMT.N  have
tentatively agreed to pay about $13.8 billion to resolve
thousands of state and local government lawsuits accusing the
chains of mishandling opioid painkillers, according to two
people familiar with the negotiations.
    The proposed settlement calls for CVS to pay $5 billion over
10 years, Walgreens to pay $5.7 billion over 15 years and
Walmart to pay $3.1 billion, mostly up front, according to the
people. The sources declined to be identified, saying they were
not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
        Walgreens and CVS declined to comment. Walmart and a
spokesperson for the plaintiffs' attorneys in the litigation did
not immediately respond to requests for comment.
    The proposed settlement, which would be the first nationwide
deal with retail pharmacy companies, follows nationwide opioid
settlements with drugmakers and distributors totaling more than
$33 billion.
    In more than 3,300 lawsuits, state and local governments
accused drugmakers of downplaying the risks of their opioid pain
medicines, and distributors and pharmacies of ignoring red flags
that prescriptions were being diverted into illegal trafficking.
    They said the resulting human toll, as well as strain on
public health services and law enforcement, was a public
nuisance that the companies must pay to fix.
        CVS, Walgreens and Walmart are the three largest retail
pharmacies in the country by market share. 
    Plaintiffs had scored some significant trial victories
against pharmacy chains, including a $650.6 million judgment in
favor of two Ohio counties against CVS, Walgreens Boots Alliance
 WBA.O  and Walmart Inc  WMT.N , and a ruling that Walgreens
contributed to the opioid epidemic in San Francisco.
        Previous settlements netted $21 billion from the three
largest U.S. drug distributors, $5 billion from Johnson &
Johnson, $4.35 billion from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd,
$2.37 billion from AbbVie Inc and $450 million from Endo
International Plc.
        State and local authorities have said they will use the
money from the settlements to combat the opioid crisis, which
according to federal government data has caused nearly 650,000
overdose deaths since 1999 and is continuing to worsen.
 (Reporting by Baranjot Kaur in Bengaluru, Brendan Pierson in
New York and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alexia
Garamfalvi and Kenneth Maxwell)
 ((Baranjot.Kaur@thomsonreuters.com; +91 86990 46242;))