Two of the largest US pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co., Ltd. , announced tentative agreements on Wednesday to pay about $5 billion each to settle lawsuits nationwide over the course of the year Opioid tolland a lawyer said Walmart is in discussions to reach a deal.
Together, the developments amount to what could be the latest round of massive settlements after years of litigation over the drug industry’s role in the overdose crisis that has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the United States over the past two decades.
In the lawsuits, governments have said pharmacies filled prescriptions they should have reported as inappropriate.
The deals call for most of the money from Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS, and Deerfield, Illinois, to be used to combat the opioid crisis through efforts such as expanding treatment and support programs for people with addiction, along with providing an antidote for overdose and starting prevention efforts.
In a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, Karen Lynch, CEO of CVS Health, said the deal grew out of mediation discussions that began last month.
Under the interim plans, CVS will pay $4.9 billion to local governments and about $130 million to Native American tribes over a decade. Walgreens will pay $4.8 billion to governments and $155 million to tribes over 15 years. The exact amount depends on how many governments join the deals.
Read more: Drug overdose deaths rose most among black and Native Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic
CVS announced its plan along with the earnings report on Wednesday, and Walgreens submitted an application to the SEC with some details.
“We are pleased to resolve these long-standing claims and put them behind us in the interest of all parties, as well as our customers, colleagues and shareholders,” Thomas Moriarty, chief policy officer and general counsel at CVS, said in a statement. “We are committed to working with states, municipalities, and tribes, and will continue our important initiatives to help reduce the illicit use of prescription opioids.”
The companies indicated that they have launched educational programs and set up safe drug disposal units in stores and police departments, among other measures designed to reduce opioid abuse.
“As one of the largest pharmacy chains in the country, we remain committed to being part of the solution, and this settlement framework will allow us to maintain our focus on the health and well-being of our customers and patients, while making positive contributions to addressing the opioid crisis,” Walgreens said in a statement.
Neither CVS nor Walgreens admits any wrongdoing.
Paul Geller, the governments attorney in the lawsuits, said talks with Walmart are continuing. Walmart representatives did not comment Wednesday.
“These agreements will be the first decisions reached with pharmacy chains and will provide communities across the country with much-needed tools to combat this pandemic and bring about tangible positive change,” local government lawyers said in a statement. “In addition to payments totaling billions of dollars, these companies have committed to making significant improvements to dispensing practices to help reduce addiction moving forward.”
The proposed agreements bring the total of final and completed settlements nationwide between businesses and governments to more than $50 billion.
Read more: Why overdose deaths rose so quickly after prescriptions for opioids were dropped
“One by one, we hold every player in the addiction industry responsible for the millions of lives lost or destroyed by the opioid epidemic,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. “The companies that helped create and fuel this crisis must commit to changing their business practices, and providing the resources needed for treatment, prevention, and recovery.”
Initially, most deaths from opioid overdose involved prescribed medications. As governments, doctors, and companies took steps to make it more difficult to abuse and obtain them, addicts increasingly turned to heroin, which proved to be more deadly.
In recent years, opioid deaths have risen to record levels around 80,000 annually. Most of these deaths are related to an illegally produced version of the powerful drug made in a laboratory fentanylwhich appear across the United States to supply illicit drugs.
The settlements were announced as litigation over the role of pharmacies in the opioid crisis escalated. On Tuesday, 18 companies — most of them related to pharmacy — submitted reports to a judge overseeing opioid litigation detailing where they face lawsuits.
Only a few opioid settlements had dollar numbers greater than the CVS plan. Distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson this year completed a $21 billion combined settlement, and pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson finalized a $5 billion deal.
Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin and members of the Sackler family who own the company, have a proposed settlement that includes up to $6 billion in cash, plus the value of the company, which will be transferred to a new entity with profits used to fight the pandemic. This plan was suspended by the court.
___
Associated Press writer Tom Murphy in Indianapolis contributed to this report.
More must-read stories from TIME
Discussion about this post