Oklahoma Reaches New Settlement With Pharmacies, Opioid Manufacturers

Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor said the state has reached a new settlement with opioid manufacturers and pharmacies.

The settlement with Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, and Allergan Pharmaceuticals will require them to pay $220,000,000.

Wednesday's announcement means Oklahoma is getting close to $1 billion in opioid settlement funds, bringing the state to the top of the charts nationally for total funds recovered per capita.

Allergan Pharmaceuticals, CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart were each alleged to have at least a partial responsibility in Oklahoma’s opioid crisis.

The money won't all be paid at once.

CVS will pay its share over 10 years, and Walgreen's will be spread over 15 years. Walmart will pay most of its amount this year.

O’Connor said between 2016 and 2020, more than 3,000 Oklahomans died from opioid overdoses.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reports nearly 25 percent of those deaths occurred in 2020, which is the most recent data available.

The Oklahoma Opioid Abatement Board said because of unintentional overdose deaths involving fentanyl, the Oklahoma Department of Health is no longer reporting deaths involving prescription opioids.

In 2019, Oklahoma reached a $65 million settlement with pharmaceutical company, Teva. In the same year, a nearly $200 million settlement was reached with Purdue Pharma.

Purdue Pharma is also required to pay an annual $15 million to OSU’s Center for Wellness and Recovery until 2024 which will go toward treating addiction.

O'Connor said Oklahoma's counties and cities must sign on to the settlements to get part of the settlements distributed to them.