The lawsuit, filed in Delaware, alleges Walmart did not take its gatekeeping duties as a pharmacy critically.
The US Justice Division sued Walmart Inc on Tuesday, accusing the retailer of fuelling the opioid disaster within the nation and ignoring warning indicators from its pharmacists, in line with a court docket submitting.
The retailer’s shares fell about 2 p.c following the information.
The lawsuit, filed within the US district court docket in Delaware, alleges Walmart did not take its gatekeeping duties as a pharmacy critically.
Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, created a system that turned its 5,000 in-store pharmacies right into a provider of highly-addictive painkillers, courting as early as June 2013, the lawsuit mentioned.
The Trump administration’s allegations come months after the retailer filed a lawsuit in October in opposition to the federal authorities, looking for readability on the roles and authorized duties of pharmacists and pharmacies in filling opioid prescriptions.
The opioid epidemic has killed roughly 450,000 individuals throughout the US since 1999 attributable to overdoses from prescription painkillers and unlawful medicine.
Walmart was not instantly obtainable for remark when contacted by the Reuters information company.