Walmart has settled a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) which accused the retailer of contributing to the nationwide opioid epidemic through the unlawful dispensing of prescriptions from its pharmacies. Both Walmart and the DOJ confirmed the settlement in separate statements on Friday, August 28, 2026, but neither disclosed the specific financial terms. The DOJ had filed the complaint in 2020, alleging that Walmart repeatedly violated the federal Controlled Substances Act since 2013 and could face billions of dollars in civil penalties.
The lawsuit was considered one of the most significant cases by the Justice Department against a single company regarding the opioid crisis. Walmart's shares saw a slight increase of 0.5% in morning trading following the news. This settlement follows a previous agreement in 2022 where Walmart committed to pay $3.1 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits filed by state and local governments concerning its pharmacies' role in the opioid crisis. Other companies, including Purdue Pharma and Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen), have also been targeted over their involvement in the opioid epidemic.
U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly had narrowed the Walmart case in March 2024, dismissing claims that Walmart failed to report suspicious prescriptions to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and that its pharmacists failed to document "red flags." However, Connolly allowed the government to pursue claims that pharmacists dispensed prescriptions that Walmart compliance personnel knew were invalid, and a fourth claim that pharmacists themselves knew the prescriptions were invalid. The joint stipulation dismissing the case was filed on Thursday in a federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.
