MORGANTOWN – State Attorney General announced new opioid litigation settlements on Tuesday, along with his teaming up with other states to combat credit card companies’ plans to track gun shop sales.
In opioid litigation, Morrisey announced more than $147 million in settlements with Walmart and CVS pharmacies: $65.07 million from Walmart; $82.5 million from CVS. The CVS deal comes with a 2.25% Most Favored Nation protection — a guarantee that West Virginia won’t be prejudiced by a future national settlement.
Tuesday was “another landmark day” he said during a press conference. With an array of litigation against wholesalers, manufacturers and pharmacies, “the goal is to have a holistic solution for the people of West Virginia.”
Trials in the suits against Kroger and Walgreens pharmacies have been postponed to June 5, 2023, he said.
The settlement, he said, put West Virginia first in the nation in per-capita opioid settlements. “If you look across the country you’re not going to see an amount that reflects the kind of success we’ve had here in West Virginia. … We’re not done yet.”
All told so far, manufacturer settlements total $296 million; wholesalers, $400 million; pharmacies, $177.5 million – for a total $874 million, he said.
Settlement money, he said, will be distributed under the West Virginia First Memorandum of Understanding: an agreement with cities and counties on how future settlement dollars would be used to abate the opioid crisis throughout the state. As of Tuesday, 99.6% of the state’s subdivisions, including all 55 counties, have signed onto the MOU.
After attorney fees, he said, 3% goes to a state escrow fund; 72.5% to the West Virginia First Foundation; and 24.5% to counties to help with their costs, such as jail fees.
With the expected Kroger and Walgreens settlement, and expected money from manufacturers Purdue Pharma and Mallinckrodt, Morrisey expects the total to top $1 billion.
Gun sales
In a separate announcment, Morrisey said that following letters urging Visa, Mastercard and American Express to reconsider their bid to apply a new merchant code to distinguish firearms purchases at gun shops, he has joined a coalition raising concerns over the legality of the proposed action.
The letter, signed by 24 attorneys general, was sent to the CEOs of Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Recently, the International Organization for Standardization voted to create a Merchant Category Code for gun stores to use when processing credit and debit card transactions.
The coalition argued in the letter sent Tuesday that creating a list of gun buyers “creates the obvious risk that law-abiding consumers’ information will be leaked, discovered, hacked or otherwise obtained and misused by those who oppose Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights.”
In separate letters Morrisey sent Sept. 15, he said the companies’ decisions “displays hostility to your cardholders that choose to exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, especially at a time when violent crime is on the rise.”
The coalition letter suggests legal action is possible. Neighbors Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia are among the signatories.
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