CVS and Walgreens are retail behemoths. Monsters in their space, with stores on almost every major intersection in most of the United States.
The two companies move a lot of opioids out of their pharmacies, and they collectively announced agreements in principle to pay roughly $5 billion apiece to settle lawsuits across the nation over the nasty, destructive toll of those opioids.
If these deals make it to the finish line, it will end thousands of lawsuits around the country where governments alleged pharmacies filled prescriptions that should have raised red flags. It’s the latest in a series of multi-billion dollar settlements involving this crisis.
Over $50 billion. That is the total of all the settlements in the opioid crisis. The financial penalties are high because the human toll is a lot worse; over 500,000 deaths in the United States in the last two decades have been linked to opioids. That is the population of Kansas City. And Atlanta. And Omaha, Sacramento, and Mesa, Arizona.
Under this tentative plan, CBS would cough up $4.9 billion to local governments, and they’d scratch a check for $130 million to Native American tribes.
Walgreens is paying $4.8 billion to governments, and the tribes would get $155 million. Both companies will have a decade or more to complete the payments.
Here’s part of a statement from Walgreens.
“As one of the largest pharmacy chains in the nation, we remain committed to being a part of the solution, and this settlement framework will allow us to keep our focus on the health and wellbeing of our customers and patients while making positive contributions to address the opioid crisis.”
CVS PR reps went with this statement.
“We are pleased to resolve these longstanding claims and putting them behind us is in the best interest of all parties, as well as our customers, colleagues and shareholders.”
Most opioid deaths involved prescription drugs initially, but recently, because of the introduction of the lab-made drug fentanyl, deaths are numbering about 80,000 per year.
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