Nevada sues Kroger to ensure opioid settlement payment
The state of Nevada is suing grocery giant Kroger, alleging that its Smith’s grocery store pharmacies “flooded” the state with opioids knowing that overprescribing of the synthetic drugs was contributing to a growing crisis, according to a lawsuit.
The procedural filing aims to ensure the company pays the state its share of a $1.37 billion settlement reached late last year, according to the office of Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford.
Settlement distributions to 30 states were slated to start this year, according to the settlement reached in late 2024. Nevada was set to receive more than $26 million.
“This complaint and consent judgment is a component to the settlement agreement that also serves the purpose of ensuring the terms of the previously announced settlement are met and provides an enforcement mechanism through a Nevada court if they are not,” the attorney general’s office wrote in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “This complaint has not been filed in addition to the settlement.”
Kroger did not return a message seeking comment.
“Kroger has contributed substantially to the opioid crisis by knowingly distributing and dispensing far greater quantities of prescription opioids than could be necessary for legitimate medical uses,” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges that the pharmacies didn’t take steps to stop “suspicious orders” or didn’t spot “red flags” that it was “fueling an illegal secondary market.”
Kroger has been penalized by the federal government in the past, the complaint said.
“Kroger nonetheless treated these fines as the cost of doing business and have allowed its pharmacies to continue dispensing opioids in quantities significantly higher than any plausible medical need would require, and to continue violating its recordkeeping and dispensing obligations,” the complaint said.
The complaint notes that Nevada is pursuing specific violations of state law.
The settlement requires Kroger to enter into a consent judgment with each individual state, Ford’s office said. “The complaint is a necessary procedural first step which allows the court to enter the consent judgment.”
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
