A Washington state judge ordered Albertsons and its Safeway subsidiary to pay $900 million on Thursday, November 5, 2026, after finding that their pharmacies repeatedly failed to properly investigate suspicious opioid prescriptions and substantially contributed to the state’s overdose crisis.
King County Superior Court Judge Janet Helson found that Albertsons violated state and federal drug laws by disregarding warning signs of possible opioid misuse and diversion and failing to enforce safeguards intended to prevent controlled substances from reaching illicit markets. The judgment includes $800 million for addiction treatment, prevention and other efforts to address the crisis, along with $100 million in civil penalties.
Between 2006 and 2022, Albertsons pharmacies dispensed more than 641 million opioid pills in Washington. More than 6.5 million prescriptions carried warning signs, known as red flags of diversion, and 96% lacked documentation showing those concerns had been adequately resolved, according to the court’s findings.
The company continued filling prescriptions from doctors whose prescribing practices had raised concerns among pharmacists. More than 5.5 million opioid pills were dispensed through prescriptions written by five doctors whose medical licenses were later suspended or revoked.
Court records also showed that Albertsons discouraged pharmacists from identifying problematic prescribers and, in some instances, prevented them from rejecting prescriptions from doctors associated with so-called pill mills. The company had access to prescribing data that could have identified suspicious patterns but failed to use that information effectively.
Pharmacists warned management that heavy workloads made it difficult to properly review prescriptions for signs of misuse or diversion. Helson found that inadequate staffing, training and compliance procedures contributed to the violations.
The court also examined failures to safeguard opioid inventories. At a Safeway pharmacy in North Bend, an employee stole more than 70,000 opioid pills over two years before being caught. Thousands of pills were also stolen from pharmacies in Leavenworth and Olympia.
Albertsons operates more than 200 pharmacies in Washington under its Albertsons, Safeway and Haggen brands. As both a pharmacy operator and distributor of controlled substances, the company was required to investigate suspicious prescriptions, monitor drug shipments and take steps to prevent diversion.
Helson found that the company’s practices substantially contributed to a public nuisance affecting public health and safety throughout Washington. She also concluded that Albertsons violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act through years of unlawful business practices.
More than 26,000 Washington residents have died from opioid overdoses since 1999, including more than 7,400 during the three years preceding the ruling, according to the state attorney general’s office. The continuing toll has left communities facing the long-term costs of opioid use disorder, overdose prevention and addiction treatment.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said the judgment would provide funding for treatment and prevention programs as communities continue dealing with the effects of the opioid crisis.
Albertsons disputed the ruling and said it was considering an appeal. The company maintained during the litigation that its pharmacies dispensed medications prescribed by licensed medical professionals.
Washington filed its lawsuit in 2022 against Albertsons and several other pharmacy chains. The other companies either settled or entered bankruptcy proceedings, leaving Albertsons as the remaining defendant in a nine-week trial that concluded in September.
The state pursued its claims separately from a $774 million nationwide opioid settlement Albertsons announced in April. Under Helson’s ruling, the company could face higher civil penalties if the $800 million treatment and prevention award is overturned on appeal.
