CVS, Walgreens, Walmart Opioid Settlement May Send More Money To NJ

NEW JERSEY — More money for fighting the opioid crisis could head to New Jersey under a tentative agreement Wednesday which would see CVS and Walgreens pay about $10 billion to local, state and tribal governments to resolve thousands of lawsuits claiming their pharmacies mishandled painkiller prescriptions.

Walmart is still negotiating its deal, but Reuters reported the settlement under discussion was in the $4 billion range.

A majority of plaintiffs still must approve the settlements. Walgreens and CVS both agreed to pay about $5 billion each, and Walmart agreed to pay about $3.1 billion, Reuters and The New York Times reported.

The tentative agreements reached Wednesday could be the last after years of litigation over the drug industry’s role in the opioid overdose crisis that has been linked to more than 500,000 U.S. deaths since 1999, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Provisional CDC data for 2021 shows that national opioid overdose deaths increased from an estimated 70,029 in 2020 to 80,816 in 2021. Overdose deaths from synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, and psychostimulants such as methamphetamine and cocaine also continued to increase from 2020 to 2021.

State officials have reported 2,411 suspected drug deaths in the first 10 months of the year — slightly lower than the death toll during that span in 2020 (2,549 people) and last year (2,684). New Jersey suffered 3,050 suspected drug deaths in 2020 and 3,124 in 2021, according to the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner.

Large prescription opioid manufacturers and the three major drug distribution companies have already settled the lawsuits against them, but retail pharmacies have been slow to strike a deal with the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs argued the pharmacies should have flagged inappropriate prescriptions.

Earlier this year, major pharmaceutical distributors — McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen — agreed to a $26 million settlement to resolve claims involving their roles in the nation's opioid crisis. The state, all 21 counties and all 241 New Jersey municipalities with populations higher than 10,000 split $641 million from the settlement.

New Jersey will receive $300 million in opioid-settlement funds through 2038. All states in the settlement must spend at least 70 percent of their share on future opioid remediation, per the agreement's terms. Some of the allowable uses of funds include treating opioid use disorder, addressing the needs of criminal justice-involved individuals, offering harm-reduction services, preventing overdose deaths, and supporting relevant research and training.