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Reuters, NEW YORK, July 13 – Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc(WBA.O), CVS Health Corp(CVS.N), Rite Aid Corp(RAD.N), and Walmart Inc(WMT.N) have agreed to pay a total of $26 million to resolve charges that they exacerbated an opioid addiction epidemic in two New York counties. The agreements are the first by pharmacies in the ongoing nationwide opioid case. The pharmacies refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing. The accords were approved by the Suffolk County legislature on Monday, and the Nassau County legislature is likely to vote on final approval next month. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 500,000 individuals died in the US from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2019. Over 3,000 lawsuits have been brought in the United States over the opioid epidemic against drugmakers, distributors, and pharmacies. Drugmakers have been accused of falsely portraying opioids as safe, while distributors and pharmacies have been accused of ignoring warning indications that they were being diverted to criminal channels, according to plaintiffs. The allegations have been refuted by the defendants. The settlement “reflects our perspective that opioid prescriptions are issued by doctors, not pharmacists, and that opioid drugs are developed and sold by manufacturers, not pharmacies,” said CVS spokesman Mike DeAngelis in an email. Requests for comment from the other pharmacies were not immediately returned. The claims were settled last month, just before they were about to go to trial, though the terms of the deals were not made public at the time. The remaining defendants, a group of drugmakers and distributors, are currently on trial for the counties’ and New York state’s claims. Johnson & Johnson also agreed to a $263 million settlement before going to trial. Representatives from the counties stated the monies would be utilized for mental health and addiction services. “While these settlements will not be able to undo the damage done or bring back those who have died as a result of this outbreak,” Suffolk Legislator Rob Calarco said in a statement. Brendan Pierson contributed reporting from New York, and Noeleen Walder and Dan Grebler edited the piece. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./nRead More

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