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This week, Baron & Budd announced the finalization of a $774 million nationwide settlement agreement with retail pharmacy company Albertsons Companies, Inc. The settlement will provide funding to state and local governments nationwide to support recovery efforts related to the ongoing public health crisis. The payout will be distributed to states, counties, municipalities, and Native American tribes to resolve allegations concerning the company’s role in the opioid epidemic.
Baron & Budd President and Managing Shareholder Russell Budd played a leading role in negotiating the settlement. The agreement, together with prior settlements involving opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies, brings the total national recovery amount to more than $60 billion.
Although Albertsons is widely known as a grocery store chain, the company operates more than 1,700 pharmacies across the United States. Under federal and state law, retail pharmacies are required to comply with “corresponding responsibility” obligations. These requirements mandate that pharmacies identify prescriptions with “red flags” indicating they may not have been issued for a legitimate medical purpose, document their findings, and refuse to fill prescriptions if those concerns cannot be resolved.
During the multi-year litigation, public entity plaintiffs alleged that Albertsons pharmacies failed to meet these legal obligations.
Plaintiffs also alleged that Albertsons’ distribution practices—distributing opioids through its own network—failed to comply with requirements to monitor and report “suspicious orders.” Federal and state laws require companies to identify and investigate opioid orders of unusual size, pattern, or frequency within their distribution systems.
“This settlement reflects significant progress in addressing the harm caused by the opioid crisis. For too long, critical safeguards were ignored, and our communities have paid the price,” said Russell Budd.
“The opioid epidemic has taken countless lives and deeply impacted families and communities nationwide. This agreement, together with others we have helped secure, represent an ongoing effort to deliver critical resources for recovery and long-term healing.”
The article describes opioid painkillers as having been widely and improperly distributed for more than a decade, driven in part by corporate practices that prioritize profits over public health. It says this has fueled an opioid crisis characterized by rising rates of addiction and overdose deaths, and other serious harms.
It further states that prescription opioids played a central role in fueling the epidemic, contributing to increased heroin and fentanyl use, and resulting in widespread consequences including opioid use disorder (OUD), opioid-related mortality, hospitalizations, foster care placements, and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).
The settlement is described as part of an ongoing national effort to address the impacts of the opioid epidemic and provide recovery support for communities and individuals in need.
Baron & Budd attorneys represent municipalities, states, cities, counties, and tribal nations in the opioid litigation. The firm states that it started the opioid multidistrict litigation (MDL) and is part of the team that filed one of the first lawsuits against drug distributors. It also says its attorneys co-led the first AG trial completed against pharmacies and have helped communities hold pharmacies, distributors, and manufacturers accountable.
Debra Collier, Marketing Manager
Steven T. Baron, Shareholder
Baron & Budd, P.C.
MediaRelations@baronbudd.com
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