WALMART AGREES TO PAY $3.1 BILLION TO SETTLE OPIOID LAWSUITS
On Tuesday Walmart announced a plan to resolve all lawsuits filed by state and local governments for the powerful prescription opioids sold at its pharmacies across the United States.
The $3.1 billion proposal follows announcements made on November 2 from the two largest U.S. pharmacy chains, CVS and Walgreens, which each said they would pay about $5 billion to settle opioid-related lawsuits. These deals are not yet final. Walmart’s settlement was negotiated with a group of state attorneys general and has to be approved by 43 states, a process that hasn’t even started. The CVS and Walgreens deals also need to be approved by a “critical mass” of local and state governments, per AP.
In its statement, Walmart emphasized that it “strongly disputes the allegations” against it and that the settlement framework “does not include any admission of liability.” The settlement framework comes just a week after Walmart filed a lawsuit against dozens of its insurance carriers for refusing to cover its litigation costs in the opioid-related lawsuits. The company hopes that a ruling would establish that the insurers are “obligated to cover Walmart’s defense costs, settlements, judgments, and/or other losses and expenses in connection with the Opioid Lawsuits,” per the lawsuit.
“Walmart believes the settlement framework is in the best interest of all parties and will provide significant aid to communities across the country in the fight against the opioid crisis, with aid reaching state and local governments faster than any other nationwide opioid settlement to date, subject to satisfying all settlement requirements,” the company said in a statement.
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