Walgreens reaches $500 million settlement with New Mexico over role in opioid crisis

Walgreens New Mexico opioid crisis settlement overview: 

• Who: Walgreens has agreed to pay $500 million in a settlement with New Mexico.
• Why: The settlement was made to resolve claims revolving around Walgreens’ alleged role in exacerbating an opioid crisis in the state. 
• Where: The case was in the 1st Judicial Circuit of New Mexico.

Walgreens has agreed to pay New Mexico $500 million as part of a settlement to resolve allegations revolving around the opioid crisis.

The settlement agreement — which was announced June 9 — represents the largest amount ever secured by the attorney general in the history of the state and comes eight months after the conclusion of a two-month bench trial, Law360 reports. 

“During the trial, witness after witness testified about the devastation wrought by the opioid crisis in New Mexico and the profound harm caused by opioids in communities across the state,” trial co-counsel Mark Pifko of Baron & Budd said in a statement. 

The $500 million settlement amount is also reportedly one of the largest agreements reached with a single defendant as part of opioid-related litigation happening across the country. 

“Now, after more than five years of litigation and six weeks of trial, we are confident that this record settlement positions New Mexico to turn the tide on this deadly epidemic,” Pifko said. 

Pharmacies agree to pay to resolve claims revolving around opioid crisis

Walmart, Albertsons and CVS previously agreed to pay New Mexico a combined $189 million in December to resolve claims the retail pharmacy chain operators had relaxed opioid policies that helped exacerbate an opioid crisis in the state. 

More than $132 million will be distributed to the state and local communites to help fund opioid abatement efforts, as part of the settlement agreements. 

The settlements were reportedly preceded by an agreement by Kroger to pay $85 million to end claims revolving around its alleged role in exacerbating the opioid crisis. 

Kroger had been accused of dispensing opioid pain medications without first confirming that the prescriptions used to obtain them had been issued for a legitimate medical purpose.

Have you or a loved one been affected by the nationwide opioid epidemic? Let us know in the comments.

The Walgreens New Mexico opioid crisis settlement is In re: State of New Mexico v. Purdue Pharma, et al., Case No. D-101-CV-201702541, in the 1st Judicial Circuit of New Mexico. 

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