Walmart settles US government opioid lawsuit
Axios (Tổng hợp từ Al Jazeera English)
Walmart has agreed to settle a US Justice Department lawsuit accusing it of fueling the opioid crisis through unlawful pharmacy practices. The terms were not disclosed, but Walmart called the amount not material.
Walmart has agreed to settle a US government lawsuit accusing the nation's largest retailer of worsening the opioid epidemic by unlawfully dispensing prescription drugs at its pharmacies.
The US Justice Department and Walmart confirmed the deal in separate statements on Friday (6/12), but did not disclose the terms. Walmart did not admit liability and said in a regulatory filing that it settled for an amount that is "not material." The company, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, reported net income of $11.7 billion for the six months ending July 31.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the terms. The lawsuit was considered one of the department's most significant cases against a single company related to the opioid epidemic.
In an email to Al Jazeera, the Justice Department said it welcomed reaching an agreement with Walmart to resolve allegations that the company's pharmacies failed to comply with their obligations under the Controlled Substances Act when dispensing opioids and other controlled substances. The department emphasized it will continue to pursue companies and individuals whose unlawful prescribing, marketing, dispensing, or selling of drugs contributes to the opioid crisis and threatens American communities.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 905,000 people in the US have died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2025. Annual death tolls began to decline after 2022.
In the lawsuit filed in December 2020, near the end of Donald Trump's first presidential term, the Justice Department accused Walmart of repeatedly violating the Controlled Substances Act since 2013 by ignoring "red flags," failing to monitor and report suspicious opioid prescriptions. The department previously said Walmart could face civil penalties of up to billions of dollars.
In 2022, Walmart agreed to pay $3.1 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits filed by state and local governments over the role of pharmacies in the opioid crisis. Other major pharmacy chains, including CVS and Walgreens, have also reached similar agreements, some for even larger amounts.
Walmart said in a statement: "We are pleased to resolve this matter and will continue to support the exceptional work of our pharmacists every day to provide the best patient care."
A settlement agreement and a joint motion to dismiss the case were filed on Thursday in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware. Walmart shares closed on Friday up 46 cents at $103.09.
Previously, in March 2024, US District Judge Colm Connolly narrowed the scope of the case, dismissing allegations that Walmart failed to report suspicious prescriptions to the US Drug Enforcement Administration and that pharmacists did not document red flags. However, the judge allowed the government to pursue two remaining allegations: pharmacies dispensing prescriptions that compliant Walmart employees knew were invalid, and pharmacists dispensing prescriptions they knew were invalid.
