CVS and Walgreens Agree to Pay $10bn to Settle Opioids Lawsuits

upstart writes:

CVS and Walgreens agree to pay $10bn to settle opioids lawsuits:

Two of America's biggest pharmacies have agreed to pay more than $10bn to resolve thousands of lawsuits over their roles in the US opioid crisis.

The proposed deals with CVS and Walgreens mark the latest chapter of a long legal saga, in which firms have faced claims they helped drive the abuse of addictive painkillers.

Settlements with drugmakers and distributors have already brought in more than $30bn.

The pharmacies have denied wrongdoing.

But they have lost some high-profile, smaller legal battles recently, with a judge ordering the two firms and Walmart to pay more than $650m (567m) to two Ohio counties.

CVS chief executive Karen Lynch said on a call with analysts that the settlement was in the "best interests of all parties and helps put a decades-old issue behind us".

Read more of this story at SoylentNews.