Washington AG Sues Pharmacy Chains Including Kroger and Rite-Aid Over Opioid Crisis
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson has joined a growing list of state attorneys general who are suing national pharmacy chains over their role in the national opioid over-prescription crisis that has killed tens of thousands of Americans.
Ferguson’s lawsuit was announced last week and is going after pharmacy chains including Kroger, Rite Aid, and Albertsons over their role in the opioid epidemic.
The lawsuit was filed in King County Superior Court and is the latest attempt to bring justice to those who suffered because of the over-prescription of opioids. According to the complaint, Ferguson accuses the businesses of not doing enough as they were the “final barrier” in the distribution of opioids through over-prescription.
In announcing the lawsuit during a news conference in Seattle, Ferguson explained that these companies should be held responsible because they “ignored Federal regulations, put profits over safety, and knowingly oversupplied opioids in our state.”
“Washingtonians trust pharmacies to be responsible,” he said. “They depend on that for their health. Pharmacies serve an important role as the final barrier to prevent overprescribing controlled substances or any prescription drugs. But that is not what happened in many cases.”
The lawsuit describes the defendants as being “gatekeepers” that failed the community because they allowed these over-prescriptions to be filled without asking questions or raising concern, even during situations that may have called for them. The lawsuit describes these pharmacies as having extensive knowledge of these opioids, but instead of executing best practices, they prioritized “speed and maximizing profit” instead.
Their alleged negligence lies in the claim that they did not stop filling prescriptions that appeared suspicious, and that they filled prescriptions even though it was likely that such orders would be “diverted into illegitimate channels.” Additionally, when they did come across these suspicious prescriptions, they did not report the orders or conduct any further action to investigate them. The lawsuit goes as far as claiming that instead of stopping the flow of prescription drugs into illegal channels, the company's failure to implement safeguards “actively contributed to the oversupply of such drugs and field in the illegal secondary market.”
Both the lawsuit and the Attorney General highlighted that the named companies received fines and notices about their practices and about previously violating Federal rules. However, Ferguson claims that the penalties did not do enough to keep opioids from getting into the wrong hands.
According to the lawsuit, the lack of action on the part of these businesses helped fuel the over 12,000 deaths throughout the state because of opioid overdose between 2006 and 2021.
Ferguson also shared that the state has reached agreements with other pharmacy chains including CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens pharmacies. In total, over $434.4 million could be brought to the state because of these resolutions; however, such funds will take over a decade to be paid out to the state. When they are received, the state plans to use the funding to repair communities and the lives impacted by the opioid crisis.
This latest settlement is just one of many that states across the nation have filed against other pharmacy chains. In recent months, chains including CVS and Walmart have settled with a number of states for their role in the supply chain of the opioid over-prescription crisis.
