Walmart settles US government’s opioid lawsuit

Walmart has settled a United States government lawsuit accusing the largest US retailer of fueling a nationwide opioid epidemic by unlawfully dispensing prescriptions from its pharmacies.

The US Department of Justice and Walmart confirmed the settlement in separate statements on Friday, without disclosing the terms.

Walmart did not admit liability, and in a regulatory filing said it settled for an “immaterial” amount. Net income for the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company totaled $11.7bn in the six months ending on July 31.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the settlement terms. Its lawsuit had been one of the department’s most significant cases against a single company over the opioid epidemic.

In an email, the Justice Department told Al Jazeera it “is pleased to have reached a settlement with Walmart resolving allegations that its pharmacies failed to comply with their obligations under the Controlled Substances Act in dispensing opioids and other controlled substances. We will continue to hold accountable companies and individuals whose unlawful prescribing, marketing, dispensing or distributing practices contributed to the opioid crisis and put American communities at risk.”

More than 905,000 people in the US died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2025, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual deaths began declining after 2022, the agency said.

In its complaint filed in December 2020, near the end of President Donald Trump’s first White House term, the Department of Justice accused Walmart of having repeatedly violated the federal Controlled Substances Act since 2013 by missing “red flags” as it failed to track and report suspicious opioid prescriptions.

The department said at the time that Walmart could face billions of dollars in civil penalties.