Oregon’s Rosenblum, other AGs announce $10.7 billion opioid settlements with CVS and Walgreens

(Update: Adding more info from The Associated Press)

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Oregon Attorney General Rosenblum, along with many of her AG colleagues across the country, announced Monday a national agreement totaling $10.7 billion with CVS and Walgreens for the pharmacies’ conduct in fueling the opioid epidemic.

Walgreens operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States, behind CVS. Under the agreements, CVS will pay $5 billion and Walgreens will pay $5.7 billion, totaling $10.7 billion.  A certain number of states will need to sign onto the agreements for the full amount to be distributed.

“Pharmacies were a key link in the supply chain that contributed to the greatest drug-induced public health crisis in modern America. This may seem like a lot of money-and it is- but compared to the harm caused by America’s largest pharmacy chains, it barely scratches the surface,” said Rosenblum.

This now makes three settlements with a national pharmacy chain in the last month; A $3 billion settlement with Walmart was announced in November. In the Walmart settlement, all states have until the end of 2022 to join, which Oregon has recently done.  

In addition, each of these agreements will need sign-on by Oregon’s counties and cities to maximize the amount of money the state will receive.  Oregon stands to receive up to $173,150,000 over time as a result of the settlements with CVS ($65,430,000) Walgreens ($70,860,000) and Walmart ($36,860,000).

“Too many have died and too many families are broken by virtue of – plain and simple – corporate greed, and that includes pharmacies. Americans place their trust in their pharmacy, and certainly do not expect it to cause them harm,” added AG Rosenblum.  “I appreciate that 100 percent of Oregon’s counties and cities signed onto our previous settlements with Johnson & Johnson and the three major opioid distributors. I hope they will sign onto these settlements, as well, in order to maximize how much Oregon can receive.”

In addition to the financial settlement, CVS and Walgreens have agreed to court-ordered injunctive relief that requires the pharmacies to monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions. This court-ordered injunctive relief will help ensure a crisis like this does not happen again.

The terms of these agreements will now go to the states for their review. Each state will have until the end of 2022 to join, after which the Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS agreements will go to local governments around the country for sign-on during the first quarter of 2023. A sufficient percentage of states and local governments must join the settlements for them to go into effect.

Most of Walmart’s amount will be paid during the first year; CVS’s payments will be spread over 10 years; Walgreens’ payments will be spread over 15 years. If there is sufficient sign-on, payments will begin during the second half of 2023.

Additional information on the previous settlement with Johnson & Johnson and the three largest distributors of opioids is online at https://www.doj.state.or.us/oregon-department-of-justice/office-of-the-attorney-general/spotlight-opioid-abuse/.

Although lawyers involved in the cases are in line for a cut of the payments, most of the money is to be used to fight an overdose epidemic that has only deepened in recent years.

Opioids have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. in the past two decades, with the most casualties in recent years. The drugs responsible for the bulk of the deaths have shifted from prescription painkillers to illicitly produced fentanyl, which is often being mixed into other street drugs.

In the 2010s, state and local governments filed thousands of lawsuits seeking to hold the drug industry accountable for the crisis. Key drugmakers and distribution companies have already agreed to settlements.

Now, pharmacies, which were subject to claims that they should have realized they were filling too many opioid prescriptions, are following suit.

Under the separate deals, states have until the end of the year to agree to drop claims over opioids against Walgreens and CVS to receive the maximum payouts.

If there aren't enough states participating, the companies can back out.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Monday that California could get up to $510 million in the Walgreens settlement. He said the state is still assessing the terms of the CVS deal.

“To all those struggling with substance abuse disorders, to all those desperately in need of treatment and recovery options — help is on the way,” Bonta said.

Other states, including Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania, have indicated they're accepting the terms of both settlements.

If there is sufficient sign-on from states, local governments can also sign on to get shares.

The amount awarded to governments is based on their populations and the severity of the opioid crisis there. States will get bigger amounts if more of their local governments agree.

The Walgreens payments could total up to $5.52 billion over 15 years. The CVS payments could reach $4.9 billion over 10 years. Additionally, the companies have announced tentative payments to Native American tribes totaling more than $250 million.

Like other opioid settlements, the agreements call for governments that receive money to use it to fight the drug crisis.

Under the deals, about $1.2 billion would be set aside for lawyers' fees and legal expenses.

The companies also have agreed to monitor, report and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions.

“CVS and Walgreens flooded our cities and towns with bottles upon bottles of pills with callous disregard for the suffering their actions caused,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement Monday. “Our settlement mandates significant changes to their business practices, including court-ordered monitoring to ensure the checks and balances that should have been in place all along will now be aggressively enforced.”