Tennessee sues Walgreens over opioid prescription onslaught

Tennessee's attorney general said Wednesday he has sued Walgreens, accusing the drugstore chain of contributing to the state's opioid crisis by failing to maintain effective controls against the abuse of prescription pain pills.

The lawsuit seeking unspecified civil penalties was filed in Knox County Circuit Court by Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III and alleges violations of Tennessee's Consumer Protection Act.

The lawsuit said that between 2006 and 2020, Walgreens retail stores in Tennessee dispensed more than 1.1 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pills. One pharmacy alone in Jamestown dispensed enough opioids over that period to supply each resident with 2,104 pills.

“Walgreens did not flood the State of Tennessee with opioids by accident,” Slatery said in a statement. “Rather, the fuel that Walgreens added to the fire of the opioid epidemic was the result of knowing — or willfully ignorant — corporate decisions. Walgreens ignored numerous red flags and failed to detect and prevent the abuse and diversion of dangerous narcotics.”

In a statement Wednesday night, Walgreens said it "never manufactured or marketed opioids, nor did we distribute them to the pain clinics and ‘pill mills’ that fueled this crisis.

“We will continue to defend against the unjustified attacks on the professionalism of our pharmacists, dedicated healthcare professionals who live in the communities they serve.”

The suit said Walgreens created a public nuisance and for years failed to perform due diligence or train its pharmacists on how to recognize suspicious activity for opioid abuse and diversion. The suit said Tennessee Walgreens pharmacies dispensed opioids to patients from at least 31 different states.

From June 2013 to March 2014, Walgreens pharmacies in Tennessee dispensed...