Walmart opioids scandal

On December 22, 2020, the United States Department of Justice filed an official complaint directed towards the Walmart pharmacy for continuing to sell codeine and other opioids to customers, despite rising rates of opioid misuse and addiction across the United States.[1][2]

Walmart pharmacies across the United States were caught unlawfully selling opioids to their customers with prescriptions, despite rising rates of opioid addiction in the United States.[1]

Opioid addiction in the United States
A line graph comparing multiple types of opioids by their deaths each year since the year 1999. Overall, the rates of opioid death rates went up a lot.
Main article: Opioid epidemic in the United States

As of January 2023, over 3 million different American citizens currently suffer from an Opioid addiction. The rate of opioid addiction has been on the rise since the 1990s, when pharmacists often Overprescribed opioid medications to patients due to a lack of knowledge on the negative side affects. Many Americans developed addictions that followed along with them into the 21st century, when their kids grew up and picked up similar habits to their parents.[3] The mixture of older and younger users led to a steep incline of addiction rates in the United States.[4]

In counteraction of the opioid epidemic, the United States Senate issued new regulations on prescriptions for opioid medications.[5] Also, supplies of Naloxone have been mass-ordered by the United States government to save the lives of people who have Overdosed. Despite the new regulations.

Controlled Substances Act
Main article: Controlled Substances Act

The Controlled Substances Act was an act that was written to control the sale and production of Opium and other Controlled substances in the United States. The act was signed by Richard Nixon in 1971, and still sees use to this day.

The complaint

On December 22, 2020, the United States Department of Justice filed an official complaint directed towards the Walmart pharmacy for continuing to sell codeine and other opioids to customers, despite rising rates in opioid misuse and addiction across the United States.[1]

Criticism towards Walmart

After the complaint was released to the public, multiple large news sources released articles regarding the issue. Large newspapers, such as NPR, CNBC and CNN reported on the topic. The public awareness combined with the public fear of illicitly selling opioids to drug addicts, all culminated into a Lawsuit against the Walmart Corporation.[6][7][8]

The lawsuit

Under the presiding of former attorney general William Barr, the Walmart corporate and the United States Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration went to court in attempt to resolve the issue.[1][9] Other pharmacies were also pulled into this legal case for similarly defying the Controlled Substances Act. Many large pharmaceutical companies, such as Walgreens, Sam's Club & CVS Pharmacy were included in this case.[6][10]

Within the lawsuit, the United States Department of Justice argued that Walmart pressured pharmacists to refill as many prescriptions as fast as possible, making them a Pill mill. They also argued that the all pharmacies in the United States have to comply with federal law before refilling a prescription.[1][11] Walmart counter-argued that every individual pharmacist must make the decision to refill a prescription or not.

In the end, the jury sided with the United States Department of Justice. All the companies involved were forced to pay a total of 3.1 billion dollars in restitution and damages, and were banned from dispensing opioids to consumers.[12][13]

See also

References
  1. "IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE". www.justice.gov. December 20, 2020.
  2. "Department of Justice Files Nationwide Lawsuit Against Walmart Inc. for Controlled Substances Act Violations". www.justice.gov. December 22, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  3. Leaming, James A.; Huecker, Martin R. (January 1, 2023). "Opioid Addiction". www.nih.gov.
  4. Abuse, National Institute on Drug (February 9, 2023). "Drug Overdose Death Rates". National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  5. Kennedy, Chris; Pettersen, Brittany; Aguilar, Irene; Tate, Jack, Clinical Practice For Opioid Prescribing, retrieved April 18, 2023
  6. Nottingham, Shawn (November 2, 2022). "CVS and Walgreens agree to $10 billion in tentative deals on opioid cases. Walmart will also reportedly settle". CNN. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  7. Mann, Brian (January 3, 2021). "Former Walmart Pharmacists Say Company Ignored Red Flags As Opioid Sales Boomed". www.nps.org.
  8. "Jury holds CVS, Walgreens and Walmart responsible for role in opioid crisis". CNBC. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  9. "https://corporate.walmart.com/media-library/document/walmart-v-doj-dea-complaint/_proxyDocument?id=00000175-522e-dbe2-a9fd-7f6e94120000". corporate.walmart.com. October 10, 2022. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  10. "Walmart offers to pay 3.1 billion dollars to settle opioid lawsuits". The National. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  11. "Rules of Department of Commerce and Insurance" (PDF). www.sos.mo.gov. October 31, 2022.
  12. Hoffman, Jan (November 15, 2022). "Walmart Agrees to Pay $3.1 Billion to Settle Opioid Lawsuits". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  13. "Walmart offers to pay US$3.1 billion to settle opioid lawsuits". CTVNews. November 15, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
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