CVS Health, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Walmart have tentatively agreed to pay more than $12 billion to resolve thousands of state and local government lawsuits accusing the chains of mishandling opioid painkillers, according to people familiar with the matter.
The proposed settlement — potentially one of the last big accords spawned by more than five years of litigation over the highly addictive painkillers — calls for CVS to pay $4.9 billion, Walgreens to pay at least $4 billion and Walmart to pay $3 billion to resolve the municipalities’ suits, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the tentative deal.
