Kroger to pay $1.2 billion in opioid settlement with states, cities

Kroger Co. announced it has agreed to pay $1.2 billion to states and local governments and $36 million to Native American tribes to settle claims the retailer's pharmacies helped fuel the opioid crisis by filling painkiller prescriptions.

The Cincinnati-based retailer said it would make payments in equal installments over the next 11 years with the first payments in December. The announcement follows opioid litigation settlements announced by other major retailers such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.

In a news release, Kroger said the settlement "is not an admission of wrongdoing or liability " and the company "will continue to vigorously defend against any other claims and lawsuits relating to opioids that the final agreement does not resolve."

Kroger expects to record a $1.4 billion financial charge during the second quarter of this year. The retailer said it would reveal more details about the settlement during an earnings call today.

The $1.2 billion settlement agreement is "another step forward in holding each company that played a role in the opioid epidemic accountable and ensuring hard-hit communities are provided with much-needed resources," said Jayne Conroy, Joe Rice and Paul T. Farrell Jr., co-leads of an executive committee representing plaintiffs in a collection of related lawsuits, known as the National Prescription Opiate Litigation.

Conroy and Farrell said in a statement the Kroger agreement is expected to be completed within 30 days and is the first involving regional supermarket pharmacies.

A wave of lawsuits from states, cities and other local governments have yielded more than $51 billion in finalized and proposed settlements against opioid makers, distributors, retailers and consultants over their role in the opioid epidemic. The governments have claimed opioid makers misrepresented the long-term risks of addictive pain pills and alleged distributors and retailers had lax oversight of the sales of prescription pain pills, fueling an addiction epidemic.

While more than 1 million Americans died from drug overdose from 1999 through 2021, nearly 280,000 fatal overdoses involved prescription opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While prescription painkillers and heroin drove the nation's overdose epidemic last decade, illicit versions of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl have caused most overdose deaths in recent years.

The Biden administration's drug czar earlier this year announced illicit fentanyl spiked with the animal tranquilizer xylazine is an "emerging threat," a designation that will allow the federal government to marshal resources to counteract the street drug combination found in most states.