New York: Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.
Pharmacy Operator, CVS Health Corp., Rite Aid Corp.
and Walmart Inc.
has agreed to pay $ 26 million together to complete claims by two New York districts that they triggered an epidemic of opioid addiction.
Settlements are the first to be achieved by the pharmacy in the ongoing national litigation on opioids.
The pharmacy does not recognize mistakes.
Legislative Suffolk County approved an agreement on Monday, while Nassau County’s legislature is expected to vote at the approval of the end of next month.
US centers for controlling and prevention of disease said nearly 500,000 people died of opioid overdose in the United States from 1999 to 2019.
More than 3,000 lawsuits have been submitted in the United States against drug makers, distributors and pharmacies for the epidemic of opioid.
The Plaintiff accused the fake marketing opioid from false marketing as safe, and distributors and pharmacies ignored the red flag they were transferred to the illegal channel.
The defendants have denied the allegations.
CVS spokesman Mike Deagelis said in the email that settlement “reflects our position that opioid recipes are written by doctors, not pharmacists, and opioid drugs are made and marketed by producers, not pharmacies.” Other pharmacies did not immediately respond to a comment request.
The pharmacy chose the lawsuits last month just before they went to court, even though the agreement was not publicly disclosed at that time.
The trial is now ongoing during the state and New York State claims against the remaining defendants, a group of drug makers and distributors.
Johnson & Johnson also settled before being tried with $ 263 million.
The funds will be used for mental health and addiction programs, representatives of these countries.
“While these settlements cannot repair the damage made or return the people who lost their epidemics, it has made a substantial impact,” said Legislator Suffolk Rob Callarco in a statement.