Walmart Reaches Settlement with US Government Over Opioid Lawsuit

Walmart has successfully settled a lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice, which accused the retail giant of fueling the nationwide opioid epidemic by unlawfully dispensing prescriptions through its pharmacies. Both the US Department of Justice and Walmart confirmed the agreement in separate statements on Friday, though the financial terms were not publicly disclosed.

While Walmart did not admit liability, a regulatory filing indicated that the company settled for an "immaterial" amount. For context, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company reported a net income totaling $11.7bn in the six months ending on July 31. The US Department of Justice declined to comment further on the specific settlement terms, despite the case being one of its most significant legal actions against a single company concerning the opioid crisis.

In an email to Al Jazeera, the US Department of Justice stated it "is pleased to have reached a settlement with Walmart resolving allegations that its pharmacies failed to comply with their obligations under the Controlled Substances Act in dispensing opioids and other controlled substances." The agency added that it will maintain efforts to hold accountable any companies and individuals whose practices contributed to the crisis and endangered American communities.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 905,000 people in the US died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2025, with annual deaths beginning to decline after 2022.

The initial complaint was filed in December 2020 toward the end of President Donald Trump’s first White House term. At that time, the Department of Justice alleged that Walmart repeatedly violated the federal Controlled Substances Act starting in 2013 by ignoring "red flags" and failing to properly track and report suspicious opioid prescriptions, warning that the company could face billions of dollars in civil penalties.

Previously, in 2022, Walmart agreed to pay $3.1bn to resolve thousands of similar lawsuits filed by state and local governments. Other major pharmacy chains, including CVS and Walgreens, also reached larger, comparable settlements.

In its official statement, Walmart expressed satisfaction with the outcome: "We are pleased to resolve this matter and will continue supporting the exceptional work our pharmacists do every day to provide outstanding patient care." A joint stipulation to dismiss the case was officially filed on Thursday in the federal court located in Wilmington, Delaware. Following the news, Walmart shares closed up 46 cents at $103.09.

The litigation history also includes actions against other industry players such as Purdue Pharma, which entered a guilty plea to criminal charges in 2020 regarding its painkiller OxyContin following bankruptcy protection filings, and the drug wholesaler Cencora, formerly known as AmerisourceBergen. Earlier in March 2024, US District Judge Colm Connolly narrowed the scope of the Walmart lawsuit by dismissing claims related to the failure to report suspicious prescriptions to the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the failure of Walmart pharmacists to document red flags. However, the judge allowed the government to proceed with claims that pharmacists dispensed prescriptions known by Walmart compliance personnel to be invalid, alongside a pending fourth claim regarding the direct dispensing of invalid prescriptions.