Florida vs. Walgreens: Trial over deadly opioid crisis takes center stage in Pasco County courtroom
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in Pasco County as the state prepares to go head-to-head with Walgreens.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said she plans to hold the company accountable for the role, she says, they’ve played in the deadly opioid epidemic in Florida.
She said not only has Walgreens had a direct hand in helping to create and fuel the opioid epidemic in the state, but she also added they are also responsible for draining taxpayer-funded resources as a result of their involvement.
The attorney general said she also has strong evidence to back her argument by focusing on Walgreens’ distribution of opioids throughout Florida. One of the arguments listed in court filings highlights how a Walgreens drug distribution center sold 2.2 million tablets to a single Walgreens pharmacy in Hudson, coming out to be a roughly six-month supply for each of its 12,000 residents.
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Another example listed in court filings accuses the company of increasing drug orders by as much as 600%, including supplying a town of 3,000 with 285,000 orders of oxycodone in a one-month period.
Mom reminds all of the dangers of opioids after losing daughter in overdose
In 2019 alone, overdoses claimed the lives of more than 70,000 people, and according to the statistics, it only got worse through the pandemic. Kellie Sipos lost her daughter to an overdose and founded a parent-support group since then.
Moody says she’s now fighting to make sure something like this is never allowed to happen again.
"The marketing, the distributing, these practices that led to where we are today cannot happen again in the future. So, stopping that behavior was just as much a part of this litigation as was ensuring that we could mitigate the harm to Florida through any monies recovered," said Moody.
The state has already secured over $3 billion from other pharmaceutical companies to help fight the opioid crisis. Most recently, Florida secured about $870 million in opioid abatement following negotiation agreements with other well-known pharmaceutical companies like CVS.
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Moody said the money secured from these cases will go towards drug prevention measures, as well as treatment and recovery services for residents who need them.
Jury selection begins Tuesday in New Port Richey, with opening statements set for next Monday.