CVS and Walmart have agreed to pay more than $147 million to settle lawsuits related to their alleged roles in West Virginia’s opioid crisis, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) announced Tuesday.
The state alleged the pharmacies failed to maintain effective controls as a distributor and dispenser against diversion that contributed to oversupply of opioids 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 in a statement. “This development also avoided a costly and lengthy trial and at the end of the day, West Virginia will have the highest per capita settlement results in the nation fighting for our people.”
Morrisey said Walmart agreed to a settlement of $65,070,000, and CVS agreed to a one of $82.5 million. The two were part of a larger trial involving other pharmacies that have yet to settle.
Litigation against the remaining pharmacy defendants — Walgreens and Kroger — continues before the Mass Litigation Panel with a trial date on June 5, 2023.
The lawsuits allege the pharmacies’ contributed to the oversupply of prescription opioids in the state, and caused “significant losses through their past and ongoing medical treatment costs, including for minors born addicted to opioids, rehabilitation costs, naloxone costs, medical examiner expenses, self-funded state insurance costs and other forms of losses to address opioid-related afflictions and loss of lives.”
