Kentucky Attorney General announces $110 million settlement with Kroger over opioid distribution

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced a $110,000,000 settlement with the Kroger company on the role its pharmacies played in distributing opioids in the commonwealth, saying the funds will be split between local governments and the state commission that awards grants for prevention, treatment and recovery.

"I'm here to announce a settlement with a Kroger company totaling $110,000,000 for its role in this devastating drug crisis," Coleman said, describing the agreement as "another milestone in our recovery efforts." He said Kroger and its more than 100 pharmacies in Kentucky were responsible for "roughly 444,000,000 opioid doses coming into our Commonwealth over the 13 year period in question," which he described as about "11% of all opioids distributed in the Commonwealth during that period."

Coleman said, under state law, half of the settlement will transfer directly to cities and counties "through a predetermined formula" and the other half will be entrusted to the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission. "We get to begin writing our next chapter now," Coleman said, adding that the commission previously awarded more than $12,000,000 to 51 Kentucky organizations for prevention, treatment and recovery programs.

Chris Evans, executive director of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, said the commission is accepting applications for another round of funding and highlighted the commission's focus on prevention and treatment. "We are proud partners with others in this mission," Evans said, noting the commission opened applications in December and was accepting submissions through Jan. 17 in the two categories of prevention and treatment and recovery support.

Deputy Attorney General Rob Duncan, who worked on the litigation, said Kentucky pursued its own lawsuit rather than join the multistate settlement because the multistate formula would have yielded a smaller recovery for Kentucky. "We filed our own lawsuit that led to today's $110,000,000 settlement," Duncan said, adding that the decision produced a larger recovery than Kentucky likely would have received by joining the multistate deal.

Reporters asked whether the agreement included injunctive provisions to change pharmacy monitoring and compliance. Coleman and a staff member said Kentucky's settlement incorporates the injunctive terms used in the multistate agreement, including requirements for suspicious order monitoring, reporting and oversight. "Those terms within the larger multistate settlement were incorporated into ours," a staff member said, and speakers said Kroger will have monitoring obligations nationwide under the multistate terms.

When asked whether Kroger officials were present, Coleman said he was "pleased with a $110,000,000 worth of resources" being brought to the commonwealth and that the company's physical presence at the event was not necessary to the settlement's effect. He also said the formula distribution would send automatic payments to virtually every county and to municipalities on a population basis; an exhibit to the consent judgment filed with the press release lists specific counties and municipalities, a staff member added.

Coleman acknowledged the limits of money to repair loss and addressed families who have lost loved ones to addiction: "No amount of money is equal to the pain of your loss," he said, but added that the office takes stewardship of the funds seriously and pledged to prioritize effective use of the dollars.

The attorney general and commission officials said the commission will review grant requests by merit and distribute funds tranche by tranche. The press release and consent judgment attached to the filing will list the allocation exhibit and further distribution details; statutory guidance (as cited during the event) defines the types of spending that qualify as opioid abatement under these settlements.

The officials said implementation work — allocating formula funds, accepting grant applications and monitoring compliance with injunction terms — is the next step after the settlement announcement.