The Justice Department announced on Friday that Walmart will pay $50 million to resolve allegations that its pharmacies dispensed hundreds of thousands of questionable opioid prescriptions, contributing to the nationwide opioid crisis.
In 2020, government lawyers contended that Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, neglected to identify and report suspicious opioid orders to the Drug Enforcement Administration, as documented in court filings.
The Justice Department stated that employees who raised concerns about these practices were often overlooked, partly to boost sales.
Court documents note that, over roughly four years, Walmart shipped an estimated 37.5 million controlled‑substance orders to its pharmacies but reported only 204 suspicious orders to the DEA—virtually none.
A Walmart spokesperson said on Friday that the company is pleased to have settled the matter.
In a 2020 statement, Jeffrey Bossert Clark, then‑acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil division, said that as one of the country’s largest pharmacy chains and wholesale drug distributors, Walmart bore the responsibility and capability to curb the diversion of prescription opioids.
The Friday settlement marks another step in the government’s effort to hold corporations accountable for their alleged contributions to the opioid epidemic.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 806,000 individuals died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2023, encompassing both illicit and prescription opioids.
In 2022, Walmart consented to allocate $3.1 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits filed by local governments and tribes.
Kroger, a grocery chain, agreed in 2023 to pay $1.2 billion to states, local governments and tribes to settle allegations that its retail pharmacies contributed to the opioid crisis.
Its pharmacies were accused of inadequately monitoring opioid prescriptions; Kroger maintained at the time that it was not admitting any wrongdoing.
The federal lawsuit against Walmart cited an example where a Walmart employee acknowledged filling illegitimate prescriptions.
The lawsuit also alleged that some pharmacists dispensed prescriptions for excessively high doses that could have proved fatal to patients.
Florida pharmacists notified Walmart’s compliance team about a physician they described as “shady,” noting that his patients exhibited slurred speech and signs of narcotic abuse.
The lawsuit claimed Walmart filled over 3,500 controlled‑substance prescriptions for that doctor, labeling the orders as having obvious red flags.
Under the settlement, Walmart must establish a hotline for employees and patients to report suspected illegal dispensing of controlled substances and to monitor pharmacy dispensing patterns.
