Walmart settles Justice Department opioid dispensing lawsuit

Walmart has settled a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit that accused the nation’s largest retailer of unlawfully dispensing opioid prescriptions from its pharmacies and failing to comply with federal controls meant to prevent abuse of controlled substances.

The Justice Department and Walmart confirmed the settlement Friday in separate statements. They did not disclose the terms. Walmart did not admit liability, and in a regulatory filing said the amount was “immaterial,” Al Jazeera reported. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company reported $11.7 billion in net income for the six months ending July 31.

“We are pleased to resolve this matter and will continue supporting the exceptional work our pharmacists do every day to provide outstanding patient care,” Walmart said in a statement.

The Justice Department said the agreement resolves allegations that Walmart pharmacies failed to meet obligations under the Controlled Substances Act in dispensing opioids and other controlled substances.

“We will continue to hold accountable companies and individuals whose unlawful prescribing, marketing, dispensing or distributing practices contributed to the opioid crisis and put American communities at risk,” a department spokesperson said.

The lawsuit, filed in December 2020 after a multiyear Justice Department investigation, alleged that Walmart violated the Controlled Substances Act by filling thousands of invalid prescriptions and failing to report suspicious drug orders. Federal prosecutors said Walmart’s actions contributed to the opioid epidemic.

CBS News reported that more than 800,000 people died from opioid overdoses from 1999 to 2023. Al Jazeera, citing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported that more than 905,000 people in the United States died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2025, and that annual deaths began declining after 2022.

When the government filed the case, the Justice Department said Walmart could face billions of dollars in civil penalties. CBS News reported that if the company had been held liable, it could have been required to pay $67,627 for each unlawful prescription it filled and $15,691 for each suspicious order it failed to report.

The case was one of the Justice Department’s most significant opioid-related actions against a single company, Al Jazeera reported. A joint stipulation dismissing the case was filed Thursday in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.

The lawsuit had been narrowed before the settlement. In March 2024, U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly dismissed claims that Walmart failed to report suspicious prescriptions to the Drug Enforcement Administration and that Walmart pharmacists failed to document red flags associated with prescriptions. He allowed the government to continue pursuing a claim that pharmacists dispensed prescriptions that Walmart compliance personnel knew were invalid, while another claim that pharmacists dispensed prescriptions they knew were invalid also remained pending.

Walmart has nearly 4,600 pharmacies nationwide, according to its website, filling prescriptions for generic drugs, insulin, GLP-1 medications and other drugs.

The settlement follows other opioid-related agreements involving Walmart and pharmacy chains. In 2022, Walmart agreed to pay $3.1 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits brought by state and local governments over the role of its pharmacies in the opioid crisis. CVS and Walgreens reached similar, larger settlements, Al Jazeera reported.

Other companies targeted over opioids have included Purdue Pharma, which pleaded guilty in 2020 to criminal charges related to OxyContin after filing for bankruptcy protection, and drug wholesaler Cencora, formerly known as AmerisourceBergen. Walmart shares closed up 46 cents at $103.09 after the settlement was confirmed.