Por Leah Willingham – The Associated Press
CHARLESTON, West Virginia — Walmart and CVS Pharmacy have settled with the state of West Virginia for a combined $147 million in a lawsuit over the companies’ role in contributing to the prescription drug oversupply that fueled the opioid epidemic in the nation’s hardest-hit state, Attorney General Patrick Morrissey announced Tuesday.
Walmart and CVS are two of the companies sued, which are part of a larger lawsuit that was postponed until June next year along with Kroger and Walgreens. Morrissey recently announced a settlement with Rite Aid for up to $30 million to resolve similar litigation.
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The lawsuits allege that pharmacies’ contributions to the state’s oversupply of prescription opioids have caused “significant losses through their past and ongoing medical treatment costs, including for minors born addicted to opioids, the costs of rehabilitation, naloxone costs, medical examiner expenses, self-funded state insurance costs, and other forms of losses to address opioid-related afflictions and loss of life.”
This brings the state’s total settlements in the opioid lawsuits to $875 million, including $296 million with manufacturers, $400 million with wholesalers and $177.5 million with pharmacies.
“These settlements will not bring back the lives lost to the opioid epidemic, but these and other settlements are expected to provide significant relief to those most affected by this crisis in our state,” Morrisey explained during a news conference. “This development also avoided a costly and lengthy trial and at the end of the day, West Virginia will have the highest settlement results per capita in the nation fighting for our people.”
Walmart agreed to a settlement of just over $65 million and CVS for $82.5 million. Morrissey said the CVS deal includes a provision that means West Virginia can still receive money from any future national deals that come up.
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Money from all opioid settlements will be distributed throughout the state to reduce the opioid crisis.
In August, West Virginia cities and counties reached a $400 million interim settlement with three major US drug distributors: AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson. In April, Morrisey announced the state would receive $99 million in a finalized deal with Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.