On Tuesday, the United States sued Walmart Inc., alleging the retail giant, Walmart of fueling the opioid crisis of the nation by ineffectively screening for uncertain prescriptions instead of repetitive warnings from its own pharmacists. The lawsuit of the United States Department of Justice claims that Walmart pursued to lift profits by understaffing pharmacies and pressurizing personnel to fill prescriptions instantly. So, the scenario made it hard for pharmacists to reject invalid prescriptions, which eventually enable extensive drug abuse countrywide, according to the lawsuit.
(UPDATE 1) THE US SUES WALMART ALLEGING ROLE IN FUELLING THE OPIOID CRISIS. – WSJ ARTICLE. READ HERE. $WMT – DOJ ALLEGES WALMART UNLAWFULLY FILLED THOUSANDS OF INVALID CONTROLLED-SUBSTANCE PRESCRIPTIONS – COURT FILING. $WMT
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Walmart was not instantly available for comment on the suit. Walmart, the largest retailer in the country by revenue, was expecting this lawsuit and sued the Trump administration in October to fight the accusations pre-emptively. The company alleges the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration, in its complaint of trying to scapegoat Walmart for what it says are regulatory and enforcement deficiencies of the federal government.
Furthermore, the lawsuit of the Justice Department alleges that the company created a system that turned its network of five thousand in-store United States pharmacies into a top supplier of highly addictive painkillers. According to the suit, the claims fate to June 2013. Walmart began with low prices on opioids that initially drove customers to its stores, the DOJ alleges.
The suit says that the middle managers – under guidelines from executives at Walmart headquarters – pressured their pharmacists to work speedy, believing that rapid prescriptions drew customers to say and keep shopping. In addition, the DOJ lawsuit said that this system made it hard for pharmacists to reject prescriptions from medics who intentionally overprescribe.
CDC signals the worsening of the crisis during the Pandemic
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the evidence reveals that the crisis worsens more during the coronavirus pandemic. However, COVID-19 treated with complications and increased stress and isolation. Donald Trump, the President of the United States, pushed the DOJ to take legal action against these companies, mainly opioid makers. In 2008, Trump asked Jeff Sessions, then-Attorney General, to bring the federal government’s major lawsuit against drug companies sending opioids at a level that should not be happening.
Source: Web
Purdue is one of three drug maker companies to file bankruptcy in the last few years to negotiate clearance of hundreds of suits. States and counties are also almost a $26 billion opioid settlement with Johnson & Johnson and three big drug distributors. Walmart is one of many other big firms targeted in such suits, filed by over two dozen states and several local governments that claim aggressive marketing of prescription painkillers, which mount the crisis. Around three thousand of the cases combined in a federal court in Ohio, where a judge pressed both sides to settle for almost three years.
