N.H. To Get $15M In Opioid Settlement From Walmart

N.H. To Get $15M In Opioid Settlement From Walmart

Introduction

New Hampshire's Attorney General said that he has agreed to join a nationwide settlement with Walmart to resolve charges that the firm contributed to the opioid addiction issue by failing to properly regulate opioid dispensing at its shops.

The deal would provide $15.5 million to New Hampshire over the next year to provide treatment and rehabilitation programmes for those suffering from opioid use disorder. It will also necessitate considerable adjustments in how Walmart's pharmacies handle opioids, such as adhering to stringent new supervision standards to prevent fake prescriptions and identify suspect prescriptions.

The governor of New Hampshire stated that confronting the opioid issue straight on requires rethinking institutions from the ground up. He also stated that it has been the major emphasis of his government since its inception. He expresses gratitude to the Attorney General and the New Hampshire Department of Justice for their ongoing efforts to reform distributor practises and enforce financial accountability for their conduct.

As a stopgap against so-called pill-mill physicians, the deal with Walmart includes court-ordered measures to closely monitor, disclose, and exchange data regarding suspicious activity linked to opioid prescriptions, as well as to prohibit patients from getting numerous prescriptions for opioids.

Over the last two decades, opioids have caused over 500,000 overdose fatalities in the United States, and in recent years, opioid deaths have climbed to record levels, approximately 80,000 per year countrywide, due to a continuous addiction wave fueled mostly by fentanyl.

Purdue Pharma and Mallinckrodt, two opioid producers, were previously sued by New Hampshire. Both sought bankruptcy protection. The court has approved the Mallinckrodt bankruptcy plan, under which New Hampshire would receive money. Purdue's bankruptcy strategy is pending judicial approval. Endo, an opioid maker, declared bankruptcy earlier this year. In that instance, attorneys general struck a $450 million pre-bankruptcy settlement, and the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office is now involved in the bankruptcy proceedings.

New Hampshire filed lawsuits against the nation's largest opioid distributors (McKesson Corp, Cardinal Health, and Amerisource Bergen). Those cases were settled when New Hampshire joined the attorneys' general multistate settlement, which would pay New Hampshire about $115 million over the next 18 years. In early September, New Hampshire negotiated a $40.5 million settlement with opioid maker Johnson & Johnson. Four large nationwide settlements have been reached with major drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens, as well as opioid manufacturers Teva and Allergan, and are being reviewed by the Attorney General's office, with judgments due by the end of the year.