Kroger on Friday said it has agreed to pay $1.2 billion to U.S. states, local governments and Native American tribes to settle nearly all of claims that it fueled the opioid epidemic through lax oversight of its pill sales.
The settlement would allow for “full resolution” of all claims on behalf of those parties, the corporate said in a release ahead of its fiscal second-quarter earnings. Kroger is now the newest retail pharmacy chain to announce a nationwide settlement agreement after Walgreens, CVS and Walmart did last fall.
Still, Kroger said the settlement isn’t an admission of wrongdoing or liability.
“Kroger will proceed to vigorously defend against some other claims and lawsuits relating to opioids that the ultimate agreement doesn’t resolve,” the corporate said in the discharge.
Shares of Kroger were up 4% in early trading Friday.
Kroger will pay $1.2 billion to U.S. states and native governments and $36 million to Native American tribes over 11 years. The corporate posted a net loss for the second quarter because it took a $1.4 billion charge related to the settlements and associated legal fees.
State and native governments have filed 1000’s of lawsuits against drug firms and wholesalers accused of contributing to the oversupply of pharmaceuticals that fueled the opioid epidemic, leading to a plethora of settlement deals.
Greater than 564,000 people died from overdoses involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids, from 1999 to 2020, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most deaths initially involved pharmaceuticals. Governments, doctors and corporations took steps to make them harder to abuse and procure, but individuals with opioid use disorder increasingly switched to heroin, which proved to be more deadly.
Several firms announced nationwide opioid settlements throughout the last 12 months.
In November, Walgreens agreed to pay $4.95 billion to U.S. states, local governments and tribes to resolve all opioid claims. The corporate also settled with West Virginia, which had the best variety of opioid-related overdose deaths nationwide, in January for $83 million.
Also in November, CVS agreed to pay $5 billion to states, local governments and tribes to resolve all opioid-related lawsuits. The retail pharmacy also settled with West Virginia for $82.5 million last fall.
Walmart in December finalized a $3.1 billion nationwide settlement agreement with all U.S. states and native governments to resolve all opioid-related lawsuits. Walmart settled with West Virginia for $65 million a couple of months earlier.
Rite Aid has not reached any nationwide opioid settlement, but the corporate agreed to pay $30 million to West Virginia last fall. Rite Aid is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy inside a couple of weeks to help restructure its debt and potentially halt ongoing opioid lawsuits.