West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey on Thursday announced the settlement in a statement. Kroger was the last remaining defendant in a state lawsuit involving Walgreens, Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid. The financial impact to Kroger will be minimal. The company booked $4.1 billion in profits last year.
More than 564,000 people died from overdoses involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids, from 1999-2020, according to the latest CDC data. A spokesperson for Kroger said in a statement that “while we continue to believe that the allegations made against Kroger in this and other opioid lawsuits are without merit, we have decided that a settlement is the best path forward to resolve this litigation.