CVS Health agrees to $5B settlement of opioid lawsuits

CVS Health has announced an agreement in principle that would make it the first major pharmacy chain to reach a nationwide settlement of lawsuits over how it handled prescriptions for powerful and addictive prescription opioid painkillers that are linked to an overdose epidemic.

The Woonsocket, Rhode Island company would pay about $5 billion over 10 years under a deal that, if accepted, would be one of the largest settlements over the crisis. Other pharmacies, including Rite Aid, Walgreens and Walmart have reached agreements with individual states.

CVS announced its proposed deal Wednesday as it released its quarterly earnings. The company did not admit liability or wrongdoing and said that nonfinancial terms remain to be resolved.

“We are pleased to resolve these longstanding claims and putting them behind us is in the best interest of all parties, as well as our customers, colleagues and shareholders,” Thomas Moriarty, the CVS chief policy officer and general counsel said in a statement. “We are committed to working with states, municipalities and tribes, and will continue our own important initiatives to help reduce the illegitimate use of prescription opioids.”

The company has launched educational programs and installed safe disposal units for drugs in stores and police departments, among other measures designed to reduce misuse of opioids.

In the lawsuits, governments said pharmacies were filling prescriptions that they should have flagged as inappropriate.

Under the settlement plan, CVS would pay $4.9 billion to state and local governments and about about $130 million to Native American tribes over the next decade. The exact amount would depend on how many governmental entities accept the terms of the deal.

The proposed settlement brings a nationwide tally of...