U.S. sues Walmart over opioid crisis

The Department of Justice said the country’s largest retailer pressured its pharmacies to fill potentially suspicious prescriptions for painkillers that fueled an epidemic of addiction. A civil suit filed against Walmart on Tuesday alleges it used an inadequate system for detecting and reporting possibly fraudulent orders of opioids. Walmart operates more than 5,000 pharmacies in its stores around the country.

What does Walmart say? The company defended itself, arguing it cannot legally come between patients and their doctors. Two months ago, it filed a preemptive lawsuit accusing the government of blaming it for the lack of regulatory and enforcement policies to stem the crisis.

Dig deeper: Read Charissa Koh’s report in Compassion about how states are spending the money they won in lawsuits against prescription opioid makers.