Attorney general sues Kroger for role in Kentucky opioid crisis

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Attorney General Russell Coleman announced Monday he is filing a lawsuit against the Kroger Company for its role in the drug crisis in Kentucky.

According to a release by the attorney general’s office, Kroger and more than 100 of its pharmacies were responsible for over 11% of all opioids dispensed in Kentucky between 2006 to 2019.

The lawsuit alleges Kroger bought more than an equivalent to 444 million opioid doses during this time.

It also alleges the company distributed almost 194 million hydrocodone pills in the Commonwealth between these years and did not implement an effective monitoring program to stop suspicious opioid orders.

“For more than a decade, Kroger flooded Kentucky with an almost unthinkable number of opioid pills that directly led to addiction, pain and death,” Coleman said. “Kroger, which families have trusted for so long, knowingly made these dangerous and highly addictive substances all too accessible. Worst of all, Kroger never created a formal system, a training or even a set of guidelines to report suspicious activity or abuse. The scourge of addiction that has plowed through graduating classes, work forces and entire families is the devastating result.”

The release states Kroger had access to data that showed unusual prescribing patterns and the ability to track suspicious orders. Despite this, the attorney general’s office says the company did not report a single suspicious prescription between 2007 to 2014.

In one year alone, over 2,100 Kentuckians died from drug overdoses and poisonings, according to the release.

You can read the full complaint here.