Major pharmacy chains have found themselves the target of lawsuits alleging that they are liable for fueling the opioid epidemic in the United States.
In a landmark decision, a federal judge in Cleveland ordered CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart to pay $650 million in damages to two Ohio counties on Wednesday, marking the first time the retail segment of the drug industry has been found accountable for its role in the opioid epidemic.
PHARMACIES ORDERED TO PAY OHIO COUNTIES $650 MILLION FOR ROLE IN OPIOID CRISIS
Other drug distributors and makers have either settled or filed for bankruptcy in the face of lawsuits. Endo International joined other drugmakers this month that have filed for bankruptcy to resolve litigation over their alleged part in the opioid epidemic.
In all, more than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed against drugmakers, distributors, and pharmacy chains for their roles in the crisis. Settlements, judgments, and civil and criminal penalties have cost companies more than $47 billion, according to the Associated Press.
Pharmacy chains are one of the main entities that have been faulted. Under federal law, pharmacies are required to assess whether controlled substance prescriptions are written for a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of the prescriber’s professional practice.
In the Ohio lawsuit, lawyers estimated that roughly 80 million prescription painkillers were distributed in Trumbull County by the pharmacy chains between 2012 and 2016, equivalent to 400 pills for every resident, Politico reported.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella filed a separate lawsuit against several pharmacy chains, including CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, and Rite Aid, last month alleging that they contributed to the opioid epidemic by ignoring red flags.
“As registered distributors and dispensers of controlled substances, Defendants are placed in a position of special trust and responsibility and are uniquely positioned, based on their knowledge of prescribers and orders, to act as the key, last line of defense,” the state argued in its complaint. “Defendants, however, instead abused their position of special trust and responsibility within the closed system of opioid distribution and dispensing and fostered a black market for prescription opioids.”
Pharmacy chains have pushed back on claims that they are at fault, arguing that the blame lies with the doctors who are overprescribing the drugs.
“Instead of addressing the real causes of the opioid crisis, like pill mill doctors, illegal drugs and regulators asleep at the switch, plaintiffs’ lawyers wrongly claimed that pharmacists must second-guess doctors in a way the law never intended and many federal and state health regulators say interferes with the doctor-patient relationship,” Walmart said in a statement on Wednesday.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Between 1999 to 2019, almost 500,000 people have died from an overdose involving an opioid, according to the CDC.
