Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced Thursday a landmark $110 million settlement with Kroger stemming from the company’s pharmaceutical operations across the state. The funds will support opioid abatement and prevention efforts.
“For over a decade, Kroger tragically fed the flames of the drug addiction fire that rages across every county of our Commonwealth. But this devastation isn’t the end of the story: Kentucky is resilient, and we get back up, no matter how many times we are knocked down,” Coleman said at a press conference in Kenton County. “Today, with $110 million invested in recovery efforts in Kentucky, Kroger has agreed to be part of the solution.”
Settlement background
The Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit in February 2024, alleging Kroger dispensed 444 million doses of opioids in Kentucky over a 13-year period with no internal monitoring system to detect and report possible substance abuse. The complaint asserted that Kroger fueled the opioid epidemic with excessive and dangerous amounts of addictive prescription drugs while disregarding its own data, customer thresholds and pharmacy experiences.
In entering to the settlement agreement, that lawsuit is dismissed, and Kroger denies allegations of wrongdoing or liability.
This settlement is separate from a $1.2 billion agreement that Kroger reached with 30 other states in 2023.
Coleman said if Kentucky had been part of that multi-state effort, the Commonwealth would only be getting around $50 million of the total funds.
“No state in the country has been more impacted by the drug crisis than Kentucky. And given the widespread presence of Kroger in our Commonwealth, I just wasn’t willing to let states like New York and California get big payouts at Kentucky’s expense,” Coleman said.
Click here to read the full settlement.
Fund allocation
Kroger joins a growing list of companies that have reached opioid settlement agreements.
Over the span of several years, Kentucky is slated to receive more than $900 million in funds from multiple manufacturers, distributors and retail pharmaceutical companies. The funds are to be used on treatment, addiction recovery and prevention programs.
Per Kentucky law, settlement dollars will be divided between the state (fifty percent) and local governments.
The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission is responsible for distribution of the state’s portion. The Commission is currently accepting applications for its latest grant opportunity, with applications due by Friday, Jan. 17, 2025.
For more information about opioid abatement best practices, contact KACo Opioid Settlement Advisor Lauren Carr at lauren.carr@kaco.org.
