Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart fuelled opioid crisis, Ohio jury finds

Three of the US's biggest retail chains have been found guilty of helping to fuel a painkiller crisis in two Ohio counties, in the first case of its kind.

A federal court found that actions by Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS, and Walmart helped create an oversupply of addictive opioid pills.

The judgement could open door to further litigation.

The three pharmacy chains denied the allegations.

Compensation, which could reach $2bn, will be decided at a future hearing.

"The judgment today against Walmart, Walgreens and CVS represents the overdue reckoning for their complicity in creating a public nuisance," the plaintiffs' lawyers said in a joint statement.

More than 3,300 similar cases have been brought, largely by US state and local governments, which have faced huge costs in managing an epidemic of painkiller addiction.

Over the last few decades, millions of Americans have become addicts through over-prescription and abuse of legal opiate-based painkillers such as Fentanyl and OxyContin. Nearly 500,000 deaths were attributed to painkiller overdoses between 1999 and 2019.

As well as the pharmacy chains, big pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals have been accused of turning a blind eye to the problem.

Lawyers for the two Ohio counties, Lake and Trumbull, said the costs are potentially $1bn for each county, to cover social and legal expenses.

They argued that the pharmacies created a public nuisance by failing to ensure opioid prescriptions were valid and so allowing excessive quantities of addictive pain pills to flood their communities.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS and Walmart denied the allegations, saying they had taken steps to prevent painkillers being diverted from their intended legal use.

CVS in a statement said it strongly disagreed with the verdict and would appeal.

"As plaintiffs' own experts testified, many factors have contributed to the opioid abuse issue, and solving this problem will require involvement from all stakeholders in our healthcare system and all members of our community," CVS said.

Other cases around the country are relying on the "public nuisance" argument to target the companies involved in making and distributing the opioid painkillers.

However earlier this month courts in Oklahoma and California rejected it as a legal argument in cases against drugs makers.