The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday sued Walmart Inc. on allegations that the retailer’s shortcomings led to a rise in the opioid crisis. The Justice Department claimed Walmart’s short-staffed pharmacies were under pressure to quickly fill up prescriptions, leading to insufficient screenings.
- “Many of these prescription drugs would never have hit the streets if Walmart pharmacies had complied with their obligations,”- Maria Chapa Lopez, one of the prosecutors.
- The Justice Department alleges that about 14,700 illegitimate prescriptions for roughly 1.5 million doses were filled by Walmart pharmacies between 2014 and 2017
- Walmart denied the charges and blamed the “well-documented failures” of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in keeping bad doctors from prescribing opioids.
- In October, Walmart filed a pre-emptive lawsuit against the Justice Department and the DEA, claiming it is being targeted for both authorities’ shortcomings in controlling the opioid crisis.
Walmart stock is currently declining. WMT: NYSE is down 0.59% on premarket
