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Walmart settles US government’s opioid lawsuit
Confirmed
"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 Walmart spokesperson said in an email to CBS News. "We will continue to hold accountable companies and individuals whose unlawful prescribing, marketing, dispensing or distributing practices contributed to the opioid crisis and put American communities at risk," a department spokesperson said.
The Justice Department sued Walmart in December 2020, alleging the company violated the Controlled Substances Act by filling thousands of invalid prescriptions and failing to report suspicious drug orders. If Walmart was held liable, it would have been forced to pay $67,627 for each unlawful prescription it filled and $15,691 for each suspicious order it failed to report, according to the Justice Department.
More than 905,000 people in the US died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2025, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walmart did not admit liability, and in a regulatory filing said it settled for an “immaterial” amount.
The department said at the time that Walmart could face billions of dollars in civil penalties.
What's confirmed
- "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 Walmart spokesperson said in an email to CBS News.
- The Justice Department sued Walmart in December 2020, alleging the company violated the Controlled Substances Act by filling thousands of invalid prescriptions and failing to report suspicious drug orders.
- More than 905,000 people in the US died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2025, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- The department said at the time that Walmart could face billions of dollars in civil penalties.
What's still developing
- Walmart did not admit liability, and in a regulatory filing said it settled for an “immaterial” amount.
- More than 905,000 people in the US died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2025, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- The department said at the time that Walmart could face billions of dollars in civil penalties.
- "We will continue to hold accountable companies and individuals whose unlawful prescribing, marketing, dispensing or distributing practices contributed to the opioid crisis and put American communities at risk," a…
- The Justice Department sued Walmart in December 2020, alleging the company violated the Controlled Substances Act by filling thousands of invalid prescriptions and failing to report suspicious drug orders.
- If Walmart was held liable, it would have been forced to pay $67,627 for each unlawful prescription it filled and $15,691 for each suspicious order it failed to report, according to the Justice Department.