Three of America’s largest pharmacy chains, Walmart, CVS and Walgreens, were ordered to pay a nine-figure sum to two Ohio counties by a federal judge Wednesday for flooding those areas with opioids.
After a federal jury ruled last year that the three retailers were a key part of the opioid crisis in Lake and Trumbull counties outside Cleveland, U.S. District Judge Dan A. Polster ruled this week that they did not take proper measures to stop abuse and resale of the pills in the afflicted communities after they sold them.
A federal judge ordered Walgreens, CVS and Walmart to pay $650.5 million to two Ohio counties that they were found to have flooded with prescription painkillers. https://t.co/116dPg3eWO
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 18, 2022
As a result, the court has ordered the retail giants to pay out $650.5 million to the two counties.
Walmart and CVS have already announced intentions to appeal. Walmart accused the counties of being in “search of deep pockets” and deflected blame to doctors, regulators and illegal drugs. CVS called the decision a “misapplication” of the law.
In addition to the payment, the companies will also be forced to increase training for personnel on distributing controlled substances, create a reporting system for inappropriate painkiller sales and appoint a compliance officer to oversee the prescription process. (RELATED: Overdose Deaths Soared In 2021, Especially In Teens)
Overdose death numbers have surged in recent years, driven largely by the flooding of low-income communities with prescription opiates as well as an increased flow of fentanyl across the southern border. An expert who testified in the case said that it would take the two Ohio counties $3.3 billion to recover from the opioid crisis.
“This decision holds Big Pharma accountable for the great harm and lives lost due to the overselling of Opioids,” Lake County Commissioner John Plecnik said. “We hope the legal precedent that Lake and Trumbull Counties have won together will set the stage for the rest of the nation and help end the Opioid epidemic.”