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US Sues Walmart, Alleging Role in Fueling Opioid Crisis

Published by

December 5, 2024
(GMT+2)

The Trump administration sued Walmart Inc on Tuesday, accusing the retail giant of lending a hand in the nation’s opioid crisis by incompetently screening for questionable prescriptions despite repeated warnings from its own pharmacists.The Justice Department’s lawsuit claims Walmart sought to fuel profits by understaffing its pharmacies and pushing employees to complete prescriptions hastily. That made it hard for pharmacists to refuse invalid prescriptions, allowing widespread drug abuse nationwide, the suit alleges.Walmart responded in a public filing on Tuesday, stating that the lawsuit “makes up a legal theory that unjustifyingly forces pharmacists to come between patients and their doctors, and is riddled with factual irregularities and selected documents taken out of context.”The country’s biggest retailer by revenue, Walmart has been anticipating this complaint and filed a lawsuit against the federal government in October to battle the allegations preemptively.

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