The settlement follows an August ruling by U.S. District Decide Charles R. Breyer, which mentioned that Walgreens may very well be held accountable for “considerably contributing” to the opioid disaster, which constituted a “public nuisance.” For 15 years, by failing to carry out due diligence and filling illegitimate prescriptions of doubtless addictive opioid medication, Walgreens “made the opioid epidemic in San Francisco worse than it in any other case would have been,” Breyer wrote, calling the impact “devastating.”

“Cities like San Francisco have shouldered a lot of the burden of the opioid epidemic,” Chiu mentioned in a press release Wednesday. “This historic settlement ensures Walgreens is held accountable for the disaster they fueled and our metropolis receives acceptable sources to fight the opioid disaster and produce aid to our communities.”

In a press release, Walgreens mentioned that the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing and that it “disputes legal responsibility.”

At top of disaster, Walgreens dealt with almost 1 in 5 of essentially the most addictive opioids

The settlement is the newest motion in a spate of lawsuits across the nation which have sought accountability throughout the availability chain — from drug producers to pharmacies — for corporations’ function in a prescription-opioid disaster that has led to lots of of 1000’s of deaths throughout the USA, in accordance to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. On the top of the opioid disaster, Walgreens dealt with almost one-fifth of oxycodone and hydrocodone capsules shipped to U.S. pharmacies, The Washington Submit reported.

CVS and Walgreens, two of the biggest retail pharmacies within the nation, agreed to pay $10 billion to settle a multistate lawsuit in November, whereas Walmart agreed to pay $3.1 billion in an analogous settlement. Final 12 months, the Sackler household, which owned Purdue Pharma, as soon as one of many largest opioid producers in the USA, agreed to pay $6 billion to resolve lawsuits.

Opioid victims confront Purdue Pharma’s Sackler household: ‘It should by no means finish for me’

In accordance to the Metropolis Lawyer’s Workplace, San Francisco noticed a 478 % improve in opioid-related overdose deaths between 2015 and 2020. At one among San Francisco’s largest hospitals, roughly 25 % of visits are opioid-related, the workplace mentioned.

In October, town estimated it could price $8.1 million over 15 years to treatment its opioid disaster, in accordance to courtroom paperwork.

Wednesday’s settlement comes from a case filed in 2018, wherein San Francisco alleged that opioid producers, distributors and dispensers fueled a “widespread surge of opioid-related dependancy and overdose” within the metropolis. By the tip of 2022, all however Walgreens had settled. Chiu famous on the information convention that the litigation has resulted in additional than $350 million in settlements.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed praised Chiu and his group in a press release on Wednesday.

“Whereas we’re grateful for the funding secured on this lawsuit,” she mentioned, “it gained’t substitute the 1000’s of lives misplaced to the opioid epidemic that’s enjoying out throughout our nation.”