{"id":584820,"date":"2026-08-30T10:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T10:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/584820\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T10:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T10:00:11","slug":"walmart-to-pay-50-million-to-settle-claims-that-it-filled-illegal-opioid-prescriptions-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/584820\/","title":{"rendered":"Walmart to pay $50 million to settle claims that it filled illegal opioid prescriptions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">(Gray News) &#8211; Walmart is paying $50 million to settle claims that its pharmacies played a role in the country\u2019s opioid epidemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">In 2020, government attorneys alleged that since June 2013, Walmart had filled illegal prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances. They also claimed Walmart didn\u2019t detect suspicious orders and contact the Drug Enforcement Administration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">According to the Justice Department, members of Walmart\u2019s compliance team knew that certain people prescribing the opioids were considered \u201cpill mills\u201d but filled the prescriptions anyway.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Shoppers enter a Walmart store, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, in Hallandale Beach, Fla.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1788084011_382_SWXORUAGEFHZJJMOFKYDO5RQVE.jpg\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" \/>Shoppers enter a Walmart store, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, in Hallandale Beach, Fla.(Wilfredo Lee | AP Photo\/Wilfredo Lee)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Justice Department said that when some Walmart pharmacists noted the questionable prescriptions to the compliance team, they were ignored.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cAs one director on the compliance team acknowledged in an email, rather than analyzing the refusal-to-fill reports, the compliance team viewed \u2018[d]riving sales and patient awareness,\u2019 as \u2018a far better use of our Market Directors and Market manger\u2019s time,\u2019\u201d the Justice Department said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Justice Department also alleged that some Walmart pharmacists filled the prescriptions even though they knew the prescriptions were invalid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Along with the $50 million settlement, the Justice Department said it reached a \u201cmemorandum of agreement\u201d with the Drug Enforcement Administration to address its future obligations in dispensing controlled substances.\u201d Through the agreement, a hotline will be established where employees and patients can report suspicious illegal prescriptions. The prescription dispensing patterns of the pharmacies will also be monitored, and a process will be established to evaluate prescribers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cToday\u2019s settlement proves this Department is committed to putting Americans\u2019 flourishing first,\u201d Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">A spokeswoman for Walmart said the company is happy that the case is being resolved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Between 1999 and 2023, more than 800,000 people died as a result of an opioid overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved. CNN Newsource contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Gray News) &#8211; Walmart is paying $50 million to settle claims that its pharmacies played a role in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[134,524,111,139,69,160009,287667,287670,287671,3316,287673,287669,287668,287666,287672],"class_list":["post-584820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-opioid-epidemic","tag-opioid-settlement","tag-pill-mills","tag-us-opioid-epidemic","tag-walmart","tag-walmart-50-million-opioid-settlement","tag-walmart-filled-illegal-prescriptions","tag-walmart-opioid-epidemic","tag-walmart-opioid-settlement","tag-walmart-settlement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}