West Virginia settles with Kroger, opioid money now tops $1B

By LEAH WILLINGHAM
Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia has settled with Kroger for $68 million over its role in distributing highly addictive prescription painkillers into the U.S. state that has lost more lives to opioid overdoses per capita than any other. That brings West Virginia’s total opioid litigation dollars up to more than $1 billion. Kroger was the last remaining defendant in a lawsuit involving Walgreens, Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid. The state had been scheduled to go to trial with the pharmacy chain in June. The settlement with Kroger resolves the lawsuit that alleged the pharmacy chain failed to maintain effective controls as an opioid distributer in the state, contributing to oversupply.