The daily business briefing: December 23, 2020

DOJ accuses Walmart of contributing to the opioid epidemic, Trump demands $2,000 stimulus checks in coronavirus package, and more

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1. DOJ sues Walmart over alleged role in opioid epidemic

The Justice Department on Tuesday filed a lawsuit accusing Walmart of contributing to the nation's opioid epidemic by pressuring its pharmacies to fill potentially suspicious painkiller subscriptions. Walmart allegedly illegally sold thousands of prescriptions its pharmacists "knew were invalid," said Jeffrey Clark, the acting assistant attorney general in charge of DOJ's civil division. The company is required by law to report suspicious orders for controlled substance to the Drug Enforcement Administration, but for years "reported virtually no suspicious orders at all," said Jason Dunn, the U.S. attorney in Colorado. Walmart pushed back, denying the allegations and saying that the federal investigation was "tainted by historical ethics violations."

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.