December 12, 2022
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
CVS and Walgreens will pay numerous state, local and tribal governments $10 billion to settle lawsuits related to the opioid crisis. Pennsylvania will receive more than $450 million.
Pennsylvania will receive more than $450 million from the $10 billion agreement that CVS and Walgreens made to settle a massive collection of lawsuits stemming from their alleged roles in the opioid epidemic.
The lawsuits, filed by at least 18 states and various local and tribal governments, came to a close last month when the pharmacies each offered to about $5 billion. They each stated that their proposed payouts were not admissions of wrongdoing. Each state named as a plaintiff now has until the end of 2022 to sign onto the settlement.
Pennsylvania's $450 million stake brings the state's total in opioid settlements to $2.2 billion, according to Attorney General Josh Shapiro's office. That sum includes lawsuit settlements from Walmart, as well as pharmaceutical companies Teva, Allergan, Mallinckrodt, Endo and Purdue, the pharmaceutical giant that manufactures OxyContin.
"No amount of money will bring back the lives we lost, but today's agreement with CVS and Walgreens will help to ensure Pennsylvanians suffering from opioid addiction get the treatment and recovery resources they need," Shapiro said. "My office is determined to hold accountable the greedy companies that created and jet-fueled the opioid epidemic. Today's action sends a message to drug distributors and pharmaceutical companies that we're here to always fight for the people we serve."
As part of the settlement, CVS and Walgreens must track, report and share data on suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions. Walmart also agreed to these terms.
Pennsylvania won't receive a massive windfall next year, however. The payments from CVS will be spread out over 10 years, while Walgreens will pay over 15 years. After the sign-on period for states closes — and then the period for local governments, which will open early next year — payments could begin in the second quarter in 2023. "Nearly all" the settlement funds would be earmarked for prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services, Shapiro's office said.
The opioid crisis, which began in the late 1990s when pharmaceutical companies urged health care providers to prescribe opioid painkillers at higher rates, hit Pennsylvania hard. Shapiro previously called it the "No. 1 public health and public safety challenge" facing the state, and the numbers bear that out. Pennsylvania's opioid data dashboard estimates that 3,018 have died from accidental or undetermined drug overdoses so far in 2022, while 5,343 died in 2021. The state also saw 47,690 emergency department visits for opioid overdoses from Jan. 1, 2018 through Dec. 2, 2022.
Philadelphia recorded more than 1,200 deaths from drug overdoses in 2021.
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