CVS and Walgreens, two of the largest pharmacy chains in the country, have agreed to pay $5 billion each to settle lawsuits throughout the country over allegations of mishandling opioid prescriptions. The companies announced the settlement plan through government filings but need the approval of the myriad of plaintiffs before the deal can go into effect, The New York Times reports.
These settlements can potentially put an end to the decades of lawsuits regarding the role of the drug industry in the opioid epidemic, NPR reports. Opioid overdose was the cause of 80,000 deaths in 2021 alone and approximately 9.5 million Americans reported misusing opioids in 2020, according to CNN. Opioids are painkillers that can be illegal, like heroin, or prescribed by doctors, including morphine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Pet cloning booms in ChinaUnder The Radar As Chinese pet ownership surges, more people are paying to replicate their beloved dead cat or dog
-
The EPA: Let’s forget about climate changeFeature You’ll miss the EPA when it’s been gutted, said former EPA heads
-
Schumer: Did he betray the Democrats?Feature 'Schumer had only bad political options'
-
MAHA moms: the cohort of women backing RFK Jr.'s health agendaThe Explainer America's head health honcho has a flock of supporters spreading the MAHA message on social media
-
The banned pesticide poisoning Caribbean paradiseUnder the radar Martinique and Guadeloupe have been rocked by soaring cancer rates amid other diagnoses
-
RFK Jr. offers alternative remedies as measles spreadsSpeed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows
-
How to do the 75 Hard trend the soft wayThe Week Recommends The 75 Soft Challenge might be more your speed if you're trying to hit a soft reset
-
Texas outbreak brings 1st US measles death since 2015Speed read The outbreak is concentrated in a 'close-knit, undervaccinated' Mennonite community in rural Gaines County
-
Mystery illness spreading in Congo rapidly kills dozensSpeed Read The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass
-
Bird flu: The viral threat pushing up egg pricesFeature
-
Health care is full of cognitive biases. Some think AI can help.The Explainer Humans are fallible but technology can be, too
