The plaintiffs argued Walgreens “dispensed millions of potentially harmful opioids into communities across New Mexico” by failing to red-flag prescriptions that weren’t needed for medical use, or by continuing to fill red-flag prescriptions. Last fall, the state obtained another $274 million in settlements from Albertsons, CVS, Kroger, and Walmart, the lawyers said. The addition of the Walgreens settlement brings the total to $1 billion brought into the state through opioid litigation.
” Walgreens has to pay to help remedy the opioid addiction in the state as part of the settlement agreement. Nearly 75% of drug overdose deaths in 2020 involved an opioid, CDC data showed, and more than 564,000 people died from overdoses involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids, from 1999-2020. The agreement, which followed five years of litigation, was reached in March but its confidentiality provision was lifted Friday. Walgreens said it is not commenting on the matter.
A previous tweet was deleted and this story has been updated to reflect that the settlement was $500 million.