Opioid Litigation
A King County, Washington judge ordered Albertsons and Safeway to pay $800 million for opioid abatement and $100 million in civil penalties after a nine-week trial. Two Levin Papantonio attorneys were on the state’s trial team.
A Washington state judge has ordered Albertsons to pay $900 million, plus fees and costs, for helping fuel the opioid epidemic. King County Superior Court Judge Janet Helson issued her ruling Thursday, Nov. 5, in a case the Washington Attorney General’s Office filed in 2022.
Two Levin Papantonio attorneys, Jeff Gaddy and Peter Mougey, served as Special Assistant Attorneys General on the state’s trial team.
“We are proud of our attorneys’ contributions to this important case and the State’s efforts to bring meaningful resources to communities impacted by the opioid epidemic.”
Levin Papantonio, in a statement
How the $900 Million Breaks Down
Judge Helson’s 218-page findings of fact and conclusions of law, filed Nov. 5, split the judgment into two parts.
- $800 million for abatement. The money must go into a court-supervised trust that the state will use only to carry out an opioid abatement plan. The trust is subject to annual reporting to the court on receipts, spending and program outcomes.
- $100 million in civil penalties under the Consumer Protection Act. If the abatement order does not stand, the penalties rise to $337,921,650.
The state is the prevailing party and will recover its costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees. The court also entered a permanent injunction against Albertsons and those acting in concert with it.
Responsibility to pay is joint and several between Albertsons Companies, Inc. and its subsidiary, Safeway, Inc.
What the Court Found
The case was tried over nine weeks, from July 13 to Sept. 14. The court heard from 45 witnesses and admitted more than 600 exhibits. Judge Helson ruled that Albertsons substantially contributed to a public nuisance and violated the Consumer Protection Act.
The scale. Between 2006 and 2022, Albertsons dispensed more than 641 million opioid pills in Washington. The state proved its pharmacies filled red-flagged opioid prescriptions more than 6.5 million times without documenting that they had resolved the warning signs.
The policies. According to the Attorney General’s Office, Albertsons discouraged pharmacists from identifying problem prescribers, kept stores and pharmacists siloed so they could not share information, and in some cases would not let pharmacists turn away prescriptions from known “pill mill” prescribers that competing chains had blocked.
The staffing. Pharmacies were chronically understaffed. The state presented emails from pharmacists saying it was “impossible” to review the legitimacy of prescriptions before filling them. One warned the company that “mistakes can easily be made to put someone’s life at risk.”
The theft. A Safeway employee stole more than 70,000 opioid pills from a North Bend pharmacy over two years. Another 12,000 pills disappeared from a Leavenworth store and 19,000 from an Olympia location.
The discount cards. Albertsons kept accepting discount cards for controlled substances after other chains had stopped, because the cards let patients and prescribers avoid insurer scrutiny. Internal documents described customers arriving as “refugees” from other chains.
Bottom line: The state sued several chain pharmacies in 2022. Every other defendant either settled early or went bankrupt. Albertsons was the last one left, and it went to trial.
The Human Toll
More than 26,000 Washingtonians have died of an opioid overdose since 1999. Over the last three years, more than 7,400 have died. The Attorney General’s Office says roughly 10 times as many people were living with opioid use disorder in 2023 alone.
“This is a victory for the people of Washington. When giant corporations put profits above safety, they will be held accountable.”
Attorney General Nick Brown
Brown added that the verdict “can’t undo the devastating harms of the opioid crisis, but it will provide desperately needed resources to support treatment and prevent future crises.” Since the crisis began, his office says it has recovered $2.17 billion for state and local governments.
What Comes Next
Albertsons can be expected to challenge the ruling. The judge retained jurisdiction to enforce the judgment and will issue further orders on implementing the abatement plan. The state has 21 days to submit its petition for costs and fees.
For Pensacola, the case is another example of Levin Papantonio’s long reach in opioid litigation. Gaddy and Mougey helped carry the state’s case to a verdict against the last pharmacy chain standing.