A King County Superior Court judge has ordered Albertsons to pay Washington state $900 million, plus fees and costs, after ruling its pharmacies failed to prevent the misuse and diversion of opioids. Judge Janet Helson issued the ruling Nov. 5 after a nine-week nonjury trial in a case the state filed in 2022. Attorney General Nick Brown said it is believed to be the largest verdict in state history.
The attorney general’s office said Albertsons dispensed more than 641 million opioid pills in Washington from 2006 to 2022, most with “red flags of diversion” that were not adequately investigated and resolved, according to a Nov. 5 news release. The state said Albertsons’ pharmacies, which operate under the Albertsons, Safeway and Haggen banners, filled red-flagged opioid prescriptions more than 6.5 million times without documenting efforts to ensure they were for legitimate medical purposes. Albertsons operates more than 200 pharmacies in the state.
At trial, the state presented evidence that Albertsons discouraged pharmacists from identifying problematic prescribers, did not let some pharmacists turn away prescriptions from known “pill mill” prescribers that competing chains had blocked, kept stores siloed so they could not share information and failed to closely track controlled substance inventory. The state cited thefts of more than 70,000 opioid pills by an employee at a North Bend pharmacy over two years, 12,000 pills in Leavenworth and 19,000 in Olympia. It also said Albertsons chronically understaffed pharmacies, presenting emails from pharmacists saying it was “impossible” to review the legitimacy of prescriptions before filling them, and kept accepting discount cards for controlled substances after other chains stopped because the cards could be used to avoid insurer scrutiny.
Judge Helson awarded $800 million to abate the epidemic and ordered an additional $100 million in penalties, according to Reuters. If the abatement order is overturned on appeal, she said, the penalties would rise to about $340 million.
Albertsons said it is “disappointed by the court’s ruling and respectfully disagrees with its conclusions” and said it was considering an appeal, according to the Washington State Standard.
Albertsons announced a $774 million settlement in April resolving most opioid claims by states, local governments and tribes nationwide, but Washington opted not to join it and continued its lawsuit. Albertsons was the only defendant left in the case because the others either settled early or declared bankruptcy, according to the state. Kroger agreed to pay Washington $47.5 million in 2024.
