Defending the opioid epidemic: State attorneys general agreement and a proposal for a larger settlement with the Sackler family of Purdue Pharma
According to statements released by state attorneys general, Walgreens would pay $5.7 billion over 15 years.
“These agreements will be the first resolutions reached with pharmacy chains and will equip communities across the country with the much-needed tools to fight back against this epidemic and bring about tangible, positive change,” lawyers for local governments said in a statement. “In addition to payments totaling billions of dollars, these companies have committed to making significant improvements to their dispensing practices to help reduce addiction moving forward.”
“We are pleased to resolve these longstanding claims and putting them behind us is in the best interest of all parties, as well as our customers, colleagues and shareholders,” Thomas Moriarty, CVS chief policy officer and general counsel, said in a statement. We are going to do our part in reducing the illegitimate use of prescription drugs and we will work with state, municipal and tribal governments.
In order to decrease misuse of drugs, and in addition to this, the companies have installed safe disposal units in stores and police departments.
“We are holding the entire addiction industry accountable for millions of lives lost or devastated by the opioid epidemic and will do everything in our power to eradicate it,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. “The companies that helped to create and fuel this crisis must commit to changing their businesses practices, and to providing the resources needed for treatment, prevention and recovery.”
The number of deaths from drug overdoses was higher in 2020 than in 1999. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than 564,000 people died from opiate overdoses in that period.
Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, and members of the Sackler family who own the company have a proposed settlement that would involve up to $6 billion in cash, plus the value of the company, which would be turned into a new entity with its profits used to combat the epidemic. A court put the plan on hold.
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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.