Walmart, CVS, Walgreens ordered to pay $650 million over opioid sales

Walmart Inc, CVS Health Corp and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc were ordered to pay a total of $650 million over their failure to properly monitor opioid prescriptions in Ohio, in the drug industry's latest setback in the sprawling litigation over the painkillers.

A Cleveland judge on Wednesday ruled that the companies must pay the "abatement" fees over 15 years to help two Ohio counties deal with the fallout from the public health crisis created by the improper sale of the drugs.

US District Judge Dan Polster ordered the pharmacy chains to set up systems "to ensure they are complying fully" with federal laws governing the monitoring of prescription drug sales.


Municipalities across the US have accused opioid makers of downplaying risks and sacrificing patient safety for billions in profits. Ohio is one of the states ravaged by the opioid crisis, which has killed about half a million Americans over two decades. Ohio's Trumbull and Lake counties alleged they were flooded with 140 million pills over six years starting in 2006.