Walmart To Pay $50M To Settle DOJ Lawsuit Over Invalid Opioid Prescriptions — WMT Stock In Focus

• Under the settlement, Walmart also signed a DEA memorandum of agreement requiring an employee-and-patient hotline, monitoring of pharmacy dispensing patterns, and a process to evaluate suspected illegal prescribers.
• The settlement resolves allegations only and includes no determination of liability.
• Walmart has faced repeated claims that its pharmacies filled suspicious opioid prescriptions and failed to stop diversion.

The Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration announced on Friday that Walmart Inc. (WMT) will pay $50 million to resolve allegations that its pharmacies filled thousands of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances.

WMT stock had closed 0.45% higher on Friday and traded flat after-hours.

Federal Allegations

Officials said the conduct began in 2013. The government filed its complaint on December 22, 2020, in U.S. District Court in Delaware. Prosecutors alleged that Walmart compliance staff and pharmacists knowingly filled prescriptions that were not valid under the Controlled Substances Act.

Walmart pharmacists flagged thousands of suspect prescriptions in “refusal-to-fill” reports. Those included orders from so-called pill-mill doctors and prescriptions with warning signs such as risky drug combinations, repeated high doses, and early refills. The Justice Department said company compliance staff still allowed many of those fills and put sales ahead of reviewing the reports.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said federal pharmacy rules exist to protect the public and that profit cannot justify conduct that fuels the opioid epidemic.

Settlement Terms

Under the settlement, Walmart also signed a DEA memorandum of agreement requiring an employee-and-patient hotline, monitoring of pharmacy dispensing patterns, and a process to evaluate suspected illegal prescribers. The settlement resolves allegations only. There has been no finding of liability.

Walmart has faced repeated claims that its pharmacies filled suspicious opioid prescriptions and failed to stop diversion. It paid small Controlled Substances Act settlements in 2007 and 2008 and signed a 2011 DEA compliance agreement. States, cities, and tribes later sued over alleged invalid fills. In 2022, it paid $3.1 billion to resolve most public claims without admitting liability, plus $150 million to New Mexico and $65 million to West Virginia. The $50 million Justice Department deal is a separate federal case.

How Did WMT Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around WMT stock remained ‘bullish’ over the past 24 hours, while message volume fell from ‘high’ to ‘normal’ levels.

WMT stock has fallen 7% year-to-date. 

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