CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said West Virginia can begin the healing process now that the state has settled its final piece of opioid litigation.
Kroger has agreed to pay the state $68 million for oversupplying prescriptions opioids into the region and fueling the opioid epidemic. Morrisey made the announcement Thursday.
“This is an important day for West Virginia. This is a day of healing,” Morrisey said. “While there will likely be some litigation into the future, the current cases for West Virginia have been complete.”
The state and Kroger were set to go on trial June 5, but have settled instead.
Kroger joins a list of pharmacies the state has previously settled with including Walgreens ($83 million), Walmart ($65 million), CVS ($82.5 million) and Rite Aid ($30 million). A settlement was also reached last year with AmeriSource Bergen, McKesson and Cardinal Health, known as the ‘Big 3’ drug distributors, for $400 million.
The state has also secured more than $296 million from opioid manufacturers and related parties including McKinsey ($10 million), Endo ($26 million), Johnson & Johnson ($99 million) as well as Teva and Allergan ($161,531,000).
With Kroger’s $68 million, that will bring the total amount of settlement money to nearly $1 billion, Morrisey said.
“All of these settlements are not going to be able to take back the lives lost from this terrible plague, but they are going to help,” he said.
Morrisey said the money will be used to boost resources to fight the drug problem in communities across the state.
“The resources can be used to attack this problem holistically from a supply, from a demand and educational perspective. That means more law enforcement. That means better treatment options from the beginning of the point where folks need the help,” he said.
County commissions and most cities in the state have signed on to the West Virginia First Plan, the memorandum of understanding, which will determine how opioid settlement money will be distributed statewide.
Morrisey said some of the funding will be used to help reimburse what counties and cities have already spent to try and attack the problem.
“There will be additional and immediate resources also going to counties and cities to help because some of those folks have put a lot of those resources in,” he said.
Kroger has agreed to pay $34 million upfront per the settlement agreement, then $12 million on June 30, 2024, another $12 million on June 30, 2025, and then lower additional payments over the next seven years to reach the $68 million total.
The deal also comes with a 2.94% Most Favored Nation protection, which is a guarantee that West Virginia won’t be prejudiced by a future national settlement.
The West Virginia First Foundation will receive 72.5% of each settlement or judgment, 24.5% of settlement and judgment dollars will be allocated to local governments and 3% will be held in escrow by the state.