The Justice Department sued Walmart for alleged contributions to the US opioid crisis in a civil complaint filed yesterday (source). The DOJ alleges that Walmart unlawfully distributed prescription opioids during the height of the opioid crisis, resulting in "hundreds of thousands of violations of the Controlled Substances Act." Meanwhile, Walmart rejected the lawsuit (source) asserting it “invents a legal theory that unlawfully forces pharmacists to come between patients and doctors.”
More context: The suit marks the latest DOJ action related to the opioid epidemic, including a recent settlement with Oxycontin-maker Purdue Pharma.
Extra: The US opioid epidemic claimed over 400k lives from 1999 to 2017.
The New Paper
This story is from the December 23, 2020 edition of The New Paper – a clear, concise daily briefing that makes fact-first news easy to consume. Try it today.
