More than $278M from opioid lawsuits could be heading to Indiana

Indiana could receive more than $278 million from national lawsuit settlements spurred by the ongoing opioid crisis.

Indiana and other states accused CVS, Walgreens and Walmart of contributing to the crisis by not appropriately managing how they distributed prescription drugs.

Attorney General Todd Rokita finalized tentative agreements and said the state is set to receive $114 million from Walgreens, $105 million from CVS and $59.4 million from Walmart.

“The opioid crisis has inflicted unspeakable pain on so many Hoosier families,” Rokita said in a news release. “Far too often, pharmacies have contributed to this devastation through their own reckless business practices, and we’re going to keep holding them accountable.”

The companies have agreed to court orders that require them to monitor, report and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions.

The funds are to be used to remediate the opioid crisis by supporting prevention, harm reduction, recovery services and treatment. According to the news release, “payments are structured to ensure critical support in early years as well as sustained resources over time.”

The majority of Walmart’s payments will be made in the first year, CVS’s payments will be spread over 10 years and Walgreens’s payments will be made over 15 years. The release said payments could start in mid 2023.

All three companies deny any wrongdoing.

Contact reporter Darian Benson at dbenson@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @helloimdarian.