By PAUL HAMMEL
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — A legal settlement with CVS and Walgreens over dispensing of dangerous opioids will deliver another $41 million to the State of Nebraska, the State Attorney General’s Office announced this week.
Nationwide, litigation against the pharmaceutical industry for its role in the opioid crisis has now surpassed $50 billion, according to Attorney General Doug Peterson, who participated in the lawsuits along with several other state attorneys general.
Under the latest settlement, CVS will pay $5 billion and Walgreens will pay $5.7 billion, totaling $10.7 billion spread out over several years, according to the AG’s office.
A group of states, including Nebraska, sued several pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies, alleging that they contributed to the opioid addiction crisis by failing to properly oversee the dispensing of the highly addictive painkillers.
A month ago, Nebraska was among the states that ratified a $3 billion settlement with Walmart that would provide more than $11 million to Nebraska.
In addition to the financial settlement, Walmart, CVS and Walgreens agreed to step up monitoring and reporting of suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions.
The Attorney General’s Office, in a press release, said that court-ordered step “will help ensure a crisis like this does not happen again.”
The states involved must now ratify the terms of this agreements.
Nebraska’s opioid settlement funds, by law, go into a separate account. A special committee then decides how to spend the money to prevent opioid abuse.