Walmart settles with Office of Attorney General for $168 million over role in opioid crisis, negligent actions
COAL TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES - 2022/08/12: Cars are seen parked at a Walmart Supercenter. (Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
AUSTIN, Texas - The Office of the Attorney General announced in a press release Wednesday morning a $168 million settlement deal with Walmart over the commerce giant’s negligent actions that contributed to the opioid crisis.
The settlement resolved earlier claims made by the State of Texas against Walmart for actions involving opioid marketing, selling and dispensing practices.
Affected parties in Texas, including political subdivisions like local and county governments which are included in the Texas Opioids Multidistrict Litigation, can sign on to the settlement in order to receive direct payments and grant money in the form of opioid abatement funding, according to the press release.
Additional information for Texas Political Subdivisions who have yet to sign on to the settlement are available at texasattorneygeneral.com, and the deadline to sign on to the settlement is July 31, 2023.
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After the settlement with Walmart, the Office of the Attorney General will have attained over $2.91 billion through pursuing litigation against the pharmaceutical industry for its role in the opioid epidemic.
According to a report by the Texas Hospital Association published to capitol.texas.gov, the opioid crisis costs Texas $20 billion annually. Additionally, according to Walmart’s 2023 annual report, the corporation made over $143 billion in gross profit during the fiscal year ending on Jan. 31, 2023. During that same period, Walmart earned an average of over $393 million per day in gross profit.