As Walmart faces a tower of lawsuits accusing the company of fueling the opioid epidemic, the retail chain said the accusations are "misguided and dangerous" because they corrode patient's trust in pharmacists and physicians.
In lawsuits accusing retail pharmacies and drugmakers of causing the opioid crisis, some companies have dodged hits, while others have paid hundreds of millions to settle. In August, an Ohio judge ordered Walmart, Walgreens and CVS to pay $650 million, The Washington Post reported, after a jury declared in November 2021 the pharmacy chains contributed to the crisis in two Ohio counties.
"In search of deep pockets, plaintiffs' lawyers representing cities, counties and others are pushing a legal theory that pharmacies should be held responsible for the opioid crisis," Walmart said in a Sept. 6 statement. "In fact, courts around the country have rejected plaintiffs' novel 'public nuisance' liability theories in lawsuits" in multiple states.
The public nuisance claim is a popular argument for opioid cases but can be a hit-or-miss for different courts.
In an argument against current and future opioid lawsuits — such as the New Mexico case involving Walmart, Walgreens and Kroger that began Sept. 6 — Walmart said it has "blocked thousands of questionable doctors from having their opioid prescriptions filled by any of our pharmacists," but pharmacists aren't meant to be the "doctor police."