CVS Health Corp., Walgreens Boots Alliance and other pharmacy chains face mounting pressure to settle thousands of government lawsuits over their role in the U.S. opioid epidemic, after a federal judge warned the companies they risk financial peril, Bloomberg News reported. As drug makers and distributors work to resolve similar complaints, mediation has failed with pharmacies, which are accused of ignoring red flags about suspicious painkiller prescriptions. The first trials are set to start this year, and a judge on Wednesday may expand the number of early cases going before juries to help gauge the potential cost of settling all the cases. If pharmacy owners, including Walmart Inc. and Rite Aid Corp., “want to hemorrhage money trying cases all over the country, they have a legal right to do it until they drop, go bankrupt or win them all,” U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, who is overseeing all the opioid cases, said at a hearing March 10. “No other defendant is operating that way.” Judge Polster’s admonishment comes as the rest of the opioid industry seeks to resolve claims filed by local and state governments, including a $26 billion accord by Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. Purdue Pharma LP proposed a $10 billion settlement as part of its bankruptcy. McKinsey & Co., which advised the industry on ways to boost opioid sales, reached a $641.5 million deal with states last month.
