CLEVELAND (AP) — New lawsuits filed by two northeast Ohio counties against five retail chains claim they flooded communities with painkillers through their pharmacies for years and did little to stop drugs from being abused or diverted.
The complaints unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Cleveland says CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart and Giant Eagle sold tens of millions of painkillers in Lake and Trumbull counties between 2006 and 2014, helping fuel a national drug crisis that has killed more than 430,000 people since 2000.
The companies say they were simply filling prescriptions written by physicians.
The counties’ trial against the retail chains is scheduled for May 2021.