Current:Home > StocksRekubit-CVS and Walgreens agree to pay $10 billion to settle lawsuits linked to opioid sales -Wealth Nexus Pro
Rekubit-CVS and Walgreens agree to pay $10 billion to settle lawsuits linked to opioid sales
Robert Brown View
Date:2025-04-10 20:45:33
CVS and RekubitWalgreens have agreed to pay more than $10 billion to several states in a settlement of lawsuits brought against them alleging their roles in the opioid crisis.
CVS would pay nearly $5 billion over 10 years, while Walgreens would pay $5.7 billion over 15 years, according to statements released by state attorneys general.
"As one of the largest pharmacy chains in the nation, we remain committed to being a part of the solution, and this settlement framework will allow us to keep our focus on the health and wellbeing of our customers and patients, while making positive contributions to address the opioid crisis," Walgreens said in a November statement.
However, neither company has admitted to wrongdoing.
States have until Dec. 31 to accept the settlements. If they do so, local governments will then have the option to acquire a portion of the compensation. Several state attorneys general have announced their intent to accept, including Pennsylvania, New York, California, Oregon, Massachusetts and North Carolina.
California is expected to get about $510 million from the settlement, Pennsylvania will receive about $450 million and New York will get about $458 million.
Payments should be distributed around the second half of 2023.
"In New York and across the nation, communities continue to mourn family, friends and loved ones lost to the opioid crisis," New York Attorney General Letitia James said Monday. "Though we cannot reverse the devastation, my fellow attorneys general and I are committed to holding those who allowed this epidemic to run rampant through our country to account."
In total, corporations have had to pay $54 billion in settlements. Walmart agreed last month to pay more than $3 billion to states, while four pharmaceutical companies – Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson — agreed to pay $26 billion in February.
Deaths from opioid drug overdoses were 8.5 times higher in 2020 than in 1999. More than 564,000 people died from opioid drug overdoses during that time period, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The opioid crisis began in the 1990s with prescription opioids, while 2010 marked an increase in deaths from heroin, and 2013 sparked the prevalence of synthetic opioids, namely fentanyl, the CDC said.
veryGood! (54946)
Related
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- Sports Illustrated Resorts are coming to the US, starting in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
- Ohio’s political mapmakers are going back to work after Republican infighting caused a week’s delay
- Normal operations return to MGM Resorts 10 days after cyberattack, casino company says
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Connecticut agrees to a $25 million settlement in the Henry Lee evidence fabrication case
- Indiana workplace officials probe death of man injured while working on machine at Evansville plant
- David Beckham Netflix docuseries gets release date and trailer amid Inter Miami CF hype
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- The Senate's dress code just got more relaxed. Some insist on staying buttoned-up
Ranking
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Ray Epps, Trump supporter targeted by Jan. 6 conspiracy theory, pleads guilty to Capitol riot charge
- Are morning workouts better for weight loss?
- No house, spouse or baby: Should parents worry their kids are still living at home? Maybe not.
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- Wave of migrants that halted trains in Mexico started with migrant smuggling industry in Darien Gap
- LA councilman who rebuffed Biden’s call to resign after racism scandal is running for reelection
- Connecticut agrees to a $25 million settlement in the Henry Lee evidence fabrication case
Recommendation
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
Syrian President Bashar Assad arrives in China on first visit since the beginning of war in Syria
Gas explosion and fire at highway construction site in Romania kills 4 and injures 5
What Ariana Grande Is Asking for in Dalton Gomez Divorce
Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
Shots fired outside US embassy in Lebanon, no injuries reported
A grandmother seeks justice for Native Americans after thousands of unsolved deaths, disappearances
11 votes separate Democratic candidates in South Carolina Senate special election