© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People walk near Walgreens, which is owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. , in Manhattan, New York City, United States, November 26, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Written by Brendan Pearson
(Reuters) – State attorneys announced Friday that Walgreens Boots Alliance has agreed to pay $500 million to the state of New Mexico to settle allegations that its pharmacies helped fuel opioid addiction in the state by failing to stop sales of illegal birth control pills.
The settlement, the largest New Mexico has ever received against a single company over opioids, followed a non-jury trial last year in a lawsuit the state brought against the company. The judge presiding over the trial had not yet ruled on the state’s allegations.
“We are confident that this standard settlement positions New Mexico against this deadly pandemic,” State Attorney Mark Befko said in a statement.
Walgreens did not plead guilty to wrongdoing under the settlement. A company spokesperson declined to comment.
More than half a million people died of drug overdoses in the United States from 1999 to 2020, with opioids playing a huge role. Overdose deaths have risen even more since then, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.