Walmart logo sign is seen in Chicago, Illinois, Aug. 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Marcin Golba | Nurphoto | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Walmart<\/a>\u00a0has settled a U.S. government lawsuit accusing the largest U.S. retailer of fueling a nationwide opioid epidemic by unlawfully dispensing prescriptions from its pharmacies.<\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Justice and\u00a0Walmart\u00a0confirmed the settlement in separate statements on Friday without disclosing the terms.<\/p>\n In a complaint filed in 2020, the Justice Department accused Bentonville, Arkansas-based\u00a0Walmart\u00a0of repeatedly violating the federal Controlled Substances Act since 2013. The department said at the time that\u00a0Walmart\u00a0could face billions of dollars in civil penalties.<\/p>\n More than 905,000 people in the U.S. died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2025, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual deaths began declining after 2022, the agency said.<\/p>\n “The department is pleased to have reached a settlement with\u00a0Walmart\u00a0resolving allegations that its pharmacies failed to comply with their obligations under the Controlled Substances Act in dispensing opioids and other controlled substances,” a Justice Department spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Walmart\u00a0said in a statement: “We are pleased to resolve this matter and will continue supporting the exceptional work our pharmacists do every day to provide outstanding patient care.”<\/p>\n A joint stipulation dismissing the case was filed on Thursday in the federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.<\/p>\n Walmart\u00a0shares rose 0.5% in morning trading.<\/p>\n The lawsuit was one of the most significant Justice Department cases against a single company over the opioid epidemic.<\/p>\n Other companies targeted over opioids included Purdue Pharma, which\u00a0pleaded guilty\u00a0to criminal charges in 2020 related to its painkiller OxyContin after filing for bankruptcy protection, and the drug wholesaler Cencora<\/a>, formerly known as AmerisourceBergen.<\/p>\n In March 2024, U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly\u00a0narrowed\u00a0the\u00a0Walmart\u00a0case, dismissing claims that\u00a0Walmart\u00a0failed to report suspicious prescriptions to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and that\u00a0Walmart\u00a0pharmacists failed to document “red flags” associated with prescriptions.<\/p>\n Connolly let the government pursue a claim that pharmacists dispensed prescriptions that\u00a0Walmart\u00a0compliance personnel knew were invalid. A fourth claim, that pharmacists dispensed prescriptions they knew were invalid, also remained pending.<\/p>\n In 2022,\u00a0Walmart\u00a0agreed to pay $3.1 billion to\u00a0settle thousands of lawsuits\u00a0by state and local governments over its pharmacies’ role in the opioid crisis. CVS<\/a>\u00a0and Walgreens reached similar, larger settlements.<\/p>\n