Kroger paying $68M to settle opioid claims in West Virginia

West Virginia and Kroger, the supermarket retail chain, have reached a settlement in a lawsuit centered on opioid abuse in the state, with the company agreeing to pay $68 million, the state announced on Thursday.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, announcing the settlement, said the agreement should be seen as a “warning to others.”

“We fight hard for those affected the most by the opioid epidemic and will stop at nothing in getting justice for them,” Morrisey said in a statement.

The suit alleges that pharmacies contributed to the oversupply of opioids in the state, leading to losses for medical treatment, rehabilitation costs and medical examiner costs, among other expenses.

West Virginia is the state with the worst overdose death rate from opioids in the country, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, with a rate of 77.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021. Delaware, the state with the second-worst rate, posted a 48.1 mark.

The settlement from Kroger includes a $34 million payment upfront, and then two $12 million payments on June 30, 2024, and June 30, 2025. Smaller payments will be made for the next seven years after that to reach the full $68 million figure.

Kroger is not the first company to settle with the state in the suit for millions of dollars. Walgreens agreed to an $83 million settlement earlier this year. Walmart settled for over $65 million, and CVS agreed to pay $82.5 million last September.

Rite Aid settled for $30 million in a similar suit last August.

“Although the hundreds of millions of dollars we secured from these companies will not bring back the lives lost from the opioid menace, our hope is that the money would provide significant help to those affected the most by this crisis in the state,” Morrisey said. 

“While we continue to believe that the allegations made against Kroger in this and other opioid lawsuits are without merit, we have decided that a settlement is the best path forward to resolve this litigation,” a Kroger spokesperson said in a statement. “Through our efforts to combat opioid abuse, including our collaboration with EVERFI to educate over 100,000 high school students about prescription drug safety, our support of national legislation for electronic prescribing of controlled substances, and the almost two million doses of Narcan and buprenorphine we have distributed in West Virginia alone, Kroger has always been committed to being a productive partner in the communities we serve, and we are pleased that the funds from this settlement will be used to address the opioid crisis in West Virginia.”