By Brendan Pierson
(Reuters) – The Kroger Co has agreed to pay West Virginia $68 million to settle claims that it fueled the opioid epidemic through lax oversight of its pill sales, bringing the state’s years-long litigation over opioids to a close.
The deal, announced Thursday by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, comes a month before the grocery store had been set to go to trial against the state. All other companies sued by the state over opioids had already settled.
Morrisey at a news conference said the deal marked “a big day for West Virginia.”
Kroger did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
West Virginia, which has opted out of nationwide opioid settlements in order to pursue cases on its own, has now secured close to $1 billion from drugmakers, distributors and pharmacies, Morrisey said, a larger amount per capita than any other state.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
