Walgreens reaches $683m settlement with Florida over role in opioid crisis

The company settled over claims that it exacerbated the opioid crisis in the Sunshine State.

A Walgreens sign. (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Walgreens has announced that it reached a $683m settlement with Florida over its role in the state’s opioid crisis, bringing a weeks-long trial to a close.

The pharmacy chain will pay the state $620m over the next 18 years, with the other $63m will go to cover the state’s legal fees. Walgreens did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, announced on Thursday.

The two sides had been contesting Florida’s claim that Walgreens exacerbated the state’s opioid crisis in a trial that began on 11 April after Walgreens declined to join a $878m settlement between Florida and four other healthcare companies.

“I am glad that we have been able to end this monumental litigation and move past the courtroom,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said.

Florida has now reached settelements with five healthcare companies, including CVS, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Abbvie Inc’s Allergan unit, and Endo International, none of whom admitted wrongdoing either. Walgreens’ $683m payout is the largest settlement of the bunch.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the national opioid crisis has accounted for more than 500,000 deaths over the last two decades and some 70 per cent of all drug overdose deaths in 2019. Former Florida Governor Rick Scott declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency in the state back in 2017.

Some want to blame the pharmacutical companies and distributors for the crisis, accusing them of encouraging doctors to over-perscribe the medication and downplaying its risks while they made massive profits.

Pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS have, in turn, moved to blame phyisicans — suing doctors earlier this year in Ohio for perscribing the drugs.

Florida has in total recieved more than $3bn in litigation against companies for their role in exacerbating the opioid crisis. According to Ms Moody, that money will primarily be funneled back into efforts to fight the crisis in the state.