On Friday, Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) agreed to pay $50 million to settle a Department of Justice lawsuit alleging its pharmacies unlawfully filled opioid prescriptions, fueling the national opioid epidemic.
Settlement Far Below Initial Exposure
The sum is a fraction of the billions in civil penalties Walmart faced when the suit was filed in December 2020. Walmart admitted no wrongdoing and called the payout “immaterial” in a regulatory filing.
Federal prosecutors alleged Walmart violated the Controlled Substances Act since 2013 by ignoring “red flags” on suspicious prescriptions, with some compliance staff reportedly aware certain prescribers ran “pill mills.”
Opioids such as oxycodone and hydrocodone are prescription medications used to treat pain. However, their misuse and overprescription have contributed to widespread addiction and overdose deaths across the U.S.
