Kentucky gets $110 million from Kroger for its role in the opioid crisis

In January 2023, Kroger agreed to a $110 million settlement with the state of Kentucky, responding to claims that its pharmacies contributed to the opioid epidemic by improperly overseeing the dispensing of painkillers. Kentucky's Attorney General, Russell Coleman, highlighted that Kroger's pharmacies dispensed nearly half a billion doses of opioids over a 13-year period, accounting for 11% of all opioids sold in the state. The settlement is part of broader efforts across the United States to hold pharmacies accountable for their roles in the opioid crisis. Attorney General Coleman criticized Kroger for lacking adequate training for pharmacists to prevent drug abuse, while Kroger defended its practices, stating it has robust training programs in place for its pharmacy staff. Half of the $110 million from the settlement will be allocated to local organizations aimed at combating drug addiction, while the rest will go toward Kentucky's opioid drug commission. This settlement is not Kroger's first legal challenge; in 2023, the company reached an agreement totaling over $1 billion to settle a multi-state opioid lawsuit as it faced continuous scrutiny from various state and local governments. The opioid epidemic has had devastating effects across the country, with Kentucky being particularly hard-hit. In 2022, it ranked seventh in the nation for overdose deaths, although the state saw a 10% decline in such deaths by 2023 due to increased investments in drug prevention and enforcement. Despite these efforts, nearly 2,000 individuals in Kentucky died from drug overdoses in 2023, showing that the battle against addiction remains ongoing. The Kroger settlement also illustrates a larger trend, as thousands of governments across the U.S. pursue legal action against drug manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies over their complicity in the opioid epidemic, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives nationwide.