CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office has filed separate lawsuits against Walmart and CVS claiming both retail giants should pay for helping create the state’s opioid epidemic and help remedy what Morrisey says became a public health and financial crisis.
The lawsuits, filed August 18 in Putnam Circuit Court, allege Walmart and CVS, as individual distributors, supplied far more opioids to their retail pharmacies than necessary to meet a legitimate market. But, the complaints allege the retail pharmacies ordered additional pills from other distributors to fulfill demand.
“We must hold everyone accountable for the roles they played in the opioid epidemic and continue to push toward solutions that go after the root cause of the problem,” Morrisey said.
Morrisey
The complaints contend Walmart and CVS each knew its obligation to halt suspicious orders to its retail pharmacies but failed to monitor for and report such activity. Both companies are listed among the state's top 10 opioid distributors from 2006 to 2014.
Morrisey's office sayst the lawsuits "do not assert claims related to either company’s role in dispensing opioids to patients, but maintain that such retail data offered Walmart and CVS unique knowledge and notice that their operations were meeting more than a legitimate market demand."
Rather than report suspicious orders and stop diversion, the lawsuits allege Walmart and CVS continued to sell, ship and profit from the prescription painkillers.
The lawsuits allege conduct by Walmart and CVS violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act and caused a public nuisance. Both lawsuits seek injunctive and equitable relief.
Officials from both Walmart and CVS have not yet replied to requests for comment.
In June, Morrisey's office filed similar lawsuits against Rite-Aid and Walgreens. Last year, it filed similar suits against opioid manufacturers Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Endo Health Solutions Inc. and Mallinckrodt LLC.
Putnam Circuit Court case numbers 20-C-131 (CVS) and 20-C-132 (Walmart)