Kentucky has reached a settlement with Kroger that will bring over $100 million to the commonwealth in support of efforts to combat the opioid crisis.
Attorney General Russell Coleman announced the $110 million settlement with The Kroger Company at the Life Learning Center in Covington.
“For over a decade, Kroger tragically fed the flames of the drug addiction fire that rages across every county of our commonwealth,” Coleman said. “But this devastation isn’t the end of the story: Kentucky is resilient, and we get back up, no matter how many times we are knocked down. Today, with $110 million invested in recovery efforts in Kentucky, Kroger has agreed to be part of the solution.”
In February 2024, Coleman directed that a lawsuit against Kroger be filed in Bullitt County Circuit Court alleging the company was responsible for pumping what equated to 444 million doses of opioids into Kentucky over a 13-year period with no internal monitoring system to report suspected abuse, according to the attorney general’s office.
Between 2006-2019, Kroger and its more than 100 pharmacies in Kentucky were responsible for over 11 percent of all opioid pills dispensed in Kentucky.
According to the arrangement created by the General Assembly, half of the settlement funds will be distributed among the commonwealth’s cities and counties according to a pre-determined formula. The other half will be entrusted to the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
