California finalizes $122 million opioid settlement with grocery giant Kroger
California will receive $122 million in a settlement agreement with Kroger, the grocery chain and parent company of Ralphs, to resolve lawsuits over its alleged role in the opioid crisis and how its pharmacies dispensed prescription painkillers to customers.
The payment finalizes a deal the company struck last year to resolve nearly all the opioid-related claims filed against it. Kroger did not admit to any wrongdoing or liability in the settlement, but it did agree to pay nearly $1.4 billion over the coming 11 years to California and other plaintiffs.
Kroger grocery stores, which do business in 35 states, provide pharmacy services to its customers in addition to selling food and other goods. The settlement agreement calls for the company to pay $1.2 billion to state and local governments and $36 million to Native American tribes for abatement programs, in addition to roughly $177 million for attorneys’ fees and court costs.
“At the California Department of Justice, we are committed to holding entities, like Kroger, accountable for their role in fueling the opioid epidemic,†Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced in a news release on Monday.
Thirty-three states will be eligible for the settlement payout, which still needs to be submitted to and approved by a state court judge in each state.
Under the agreement, Kroger pharmacies will monitor and report suspicious opioid prescription activity.
During a traffic stop in Fresno County on Oct. 3, a drug-sniffing dog alerted his handler to narcotics inside of a cooler. Authorities found 11 pounds of fentanyl inside raw beef.
“Kroger will continue to combat opioid abuse, and it remains focused on providing fresh and affordable groceries to communities across the country,†a Kroger spokesperson said.
While oxycodone and other addictive prescription painkillers kicked off the opioid epidemic in the U.S, synthetic drugs such as fentanyl have become the drug responsible for the most overdose deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over the summer, the Supreme Court upset a massive settlement related to Purdue Pharma company, makers of prescription painkiller OxyContin. The justices ruled in a 5-4 vote that the proposed settlement, which would have paid $10 billion to victims, was not viable because it would have shielded the Sackler family, the billionaire owners of Purdue, from further liability even though the family did not file for bankruptcy.
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