CVS Agrees to Pay $5 Billion in Opioid Settlement UPDATED

CVS Agrees to Pay $5 Billion in Opioid Settlement UPDATED

CVS Health — the mega-corporation headquartered in Rhode Island —announced Wednesday morning that it has agreed in principle to a financial resolution designed to substantially resolve all opioid lawsuits and claims against the company by states, political subdivisions, such as counties and cities, and tribes in the United States.

The company repeatedly denied it had any responsibility in the opioid public health crisis.

The role of former CVS president Helena Foulkes in the opioid crisis became a major issue as she ran for governor in the Democratic primary in September.

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“If all conditions are satisfied and the non-monetary terms – which still need to be determined – are finalized, CVS Health has agreed it will pay approximately $5 billion ($4.9 billion to states and political subdivisions and approximately $130 million to tribes) over the next ten years beginning in 2023, depending on the number of governmental entities that agree to join the settlement,” said the company.

CVS has already signed agreements and has been hit with legal judgments of nearly $1 billion.

The company claims,” The agreement would fully resolve claims dating back a decade or more and is not an admission of any liability or wrongdoing. CVS Health will continue to defend against any litigation that the final agreement does not resolve. 

Mike DeAngelis, CVS Health Corporate Communications, said in a statement to GoLocal is November of 2021:

We strongly disagree with the decision. Pharmacists fill legal prescriptions written by DEA-licensed doctors who prescribe legal, FDA-approved substances to treat actual patients in need.  

We’re proud of the substantial work we’ve done to support our pharmacists in detecting illegitimate prescribing. But the simple facts are that opioid prescriptions are written by doctors, not pharmacists; opioid medications are made and marketed by manufacturers, not pharmacists; and our health care system depends on pharmacists to fill legitimate prescriptions that doctors deem necessary for their patients. We look forward to the appeals court review of this case, including the misapplication of public nuisance law.

As plaintiffs’ own experts testified, many factors have contributed to the opioid abuse issue, and solving this problem will require involvement from all stakeholders in our health care system and all members of our community.

 

No Admission By CVS Now

“We are pleased to resolve these longstanding claims and putting them behind us is in the best interest of all parties, as well as our customers, colleagues and shareholders,” said Thomas Moriarty, Chief Policy Officer and General Counsel, CVS Health. “We are committed to working with states, municipalities and tribes, and will continue our own important initiatives to help reduce the illegitimate use of prescription opioids.” 

Each state, local government and tribe still must decide whether to participate in the settlement.

 

CVS Health said it has:

- Significant investments in technology and procedures to support its pharmacists in exercising their professional obligations.

- Innovative, comprehensive, and industry-leading policies, procedures and controls relating to the dispensing of controlled substances.

- Effective educational programs on prescription drug misuse that have reached 1.8 million teens and parents.

- Rollout of more than 4,750 safe medication disposal units in stores and local police departments across the country, which to date have collected more than 4.5 million pounds of unused medication.

- Installation of time delay safes in more than 7,650 pharmacies across 45 states and Washington, DC to help deter opioid robberies.

- Nationwide access in CVS Pharmacy locations to life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication.

This story was updated at 8:21 AM