Walmart is the latest company to settle legal claims with Texas surrounding its alleged role in exacerbating the state’s opioid crisis.
The Office of the Attorney General of Texas (OAG) announced Wednesday that it finalized a settlement with the big-box retailer for $168 million, claiming the company contributed to the “increased suffering, addiction, and death associated with the national opioid epidemic.”
“The agreement will resolve claims by the State of Texas and its Political Subdivisions against Walmart for the company’s [marketing, selling, and dispensing] practices that exacerbated the opioid epidemic in the state of Texas and across the nation,” the OAG said in a July 19 news release.
Walmart is now one of about a dozen companies that have settled with the Texas OAG. Other companies include Allergan, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, CVS, Endo, Johnson & Johnson, Mallinckrodt, McKesson, McKinsey, Teva, and Walgreens.
In total, the Texas OAG has secured more than $2.9 billion from companies for their “negligent practices” associated with the national opioid epidemic.
To ensure Texans receive all benefits and remediation funds owed to them, the Texas OAG is encouraging all affected “Political Subdivisions in Texas” — such as municipal and county governments involved with the Texas Opioids Multidistrict Litigation — to sign on to the settlement. The deadline to sign on is July 31, 2023.
“Local Political Subdivisions’ participation is critical to the agreement’s success and enables Texas to receive the maximum amount of funds available under the terms of the settlement,” the Texas OAG said in an earlier news release. “Cities and counties that sign on are eligible for direct payments as well as grant money for opioid abatement funding from the Texas Opioid Council.”
Besides the profound human cost, the opioid crisis has also wrought a significant financial cost, according to a report by the Texas Hospital Association.
The opioid crisis costs Texas $20 billion annually. Costs associated with the crisis include increased health care and substance use disorder treatment, lost productivity, and costs to the criminal justice system.
