Walgreens to pay $300 million in the US opioid settlement

Walgreens has agreed to pay $300 million to resolve accusations by US authorities that it fraudulently filled millions of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other prohibited substances, the Justice Department announced on Monday.

The money, plus 4% interest per year, will be paid out over six years, according to the terms of the deal. Walgreens will also owe the US an additional $50 million if it is sold, merged, or transferred before fiscal year 2032, according to the Justice Department.

In a filing with US regulators, the business stated that it did not expect any large opioid-related cases in the near future.

The government’s January lawsuit claimed Walgreens missed «red flags» that prescriptions were illegal and yet filled them, violating the Controlled Substances Act. The government also claimed that it violated the False Claims Act when it sought reimbursement from federal health-care programs such as Medicare for the prescriptions.

Walgreens is one of several drug manufacturers, distributors, pharmacy operators, and others who have agreed to pay approximately $50 billion in recent years to settle lawsuits and investigations by states and local governments accusing them of contributing to the United States’ deadly opioid addiction epidemic.

In 2022, Walgreens agreed to pay up to $5.52 billion over 15 years to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed by state and local governments accusing the firm of exacerbating the US opioid epidemic.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 727,000 people died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2022.