"US pharmacies ordered to pay $650.6m for role in opioids crisis", 17 Aug 2022

The US pharmacy chains CVS, Walmart and Walgreens must pay a combined $650.6m to two Ohio counties to address the damage done by the opioid epidemic, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

The order by US judge Dan Polster in Cleveland comes after a jury last November concluded that the firms helped create a public nuisance in Lake and Trumbull counties by oversupplying addictive pain pills, many of which found their way on to the black market. The companies have said they would appeal that verdict.

“We are disappointed with this outcome,” a Walgreens spokesman, Fraser Engleman, said in a statement. “The facts and the law did not support the jury verdict last fall, and they do not support the court’s decision now.“

CVS and Walmart did not immediately respond to requests for comment...

The judge also ordered the companies to implement new procedures to combat illegal diversion of opioid drugs...