Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced Monday the state is suing Walgreens, taking aim at the pharmacy chain for its role in the opioid epidemic.
At a news conference Monday in Little Rock, Rutledge alleged the pharmacy-giant, with 79 stores in Arkansas, failed to flag “suspicious orders” of painkillers, helping to fuel an opioid crisis that devastated the state and the country.
Rutledge said Walgreens' practices hit Arkansas hard, dispensing 142 million doses of oxycodone and hydrocodone in the state from 2006 to 2014.
“Walgreens has a legal responsibility to report suspicious orders and suspicious prescriptions,” Rutledge said. “And by failing to do so they enabled the black market of perception drugs to increase dramatically, thus leading to more, greater addiction and more lives lost in the state of Arkansas.”
The lawsuit against Walgreens is the latest suit the state has filed against companies for their alleged roles in the opioid epidemic. In February, Arkansas received a $5.4 million in settlement from the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., as part of a 48 state legal settlement.