Walmart has agreed to pay $50 million to settle a US government lawsuit accusing the retail giant's pharmacies of improperly dispensing thousands of opioid and other controlled-substance prescriptions.
The settlement was announced by the US Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Friday. The case stemmed from allegations that Walmart pharmacies violated the federal Controlled Substances Act by filling prescriptions that should not have been dispensed.
The federal government's lawsuit, originally filed in December 2020 and amended in 2022, alleged that Walmart had been improperly filling invalid prescriptions since June 2013.
According to the Justice Department, some Walmart compliance officials allegedly knew that certain doctors were operating so-called โpill millsโ, but prescriptions from those providers were still filled.
The government also alleged that Walmart pharmacists encountered warning signs, including unusually high opioid doses, repeated early refill requests and potentially dangerous combinations of opioids with other medicines.
New safeguards for Walmart pharmacies
As part of the settlement, Walmart has agreed to introduce additional controls over the dispensing of controlled substances.
The company will establish a hotline for employees and patients to report suspected illegal dispensing. It will also proactively monitor prescription-dispensing patterns and establish a process to review prescribers suspected of illegally prescribing controlled substances.
Walmart does not admit liability
The settlement does not mean Walmart has been found legally responsible for the allegations.
The Justice Department specifically stated that the claims resolved through the agreement remain allegations only and that there has been no determination of liability. Walmart said it was pleased to resolve the matter and would continue supporting its pharmacists.
The $50 million settlement is significantly below the potential billions of dollars in civil penalties that the government had indicated Walmart could face when the case began.
The agreement brings an important federal case against one of the world's largest retailers closer to an end, while placing additional compliance obligations on its pharmacy operations.
Previous opioid-related settlement
The latest agreement is separate from Walmart's earlier nationwide opioid litigation.
In 2022, Walmart agreed to pay about $3.1 billion to settle thousands of claims brought by state, local and tribal governments over allegations concerning the handling of opioid prescriptions.
