City of Baltimore Reaches Settlement with Walgreens to Resolve Opioid Litigation, Bringing Total Recoveries to $402.5 Million

BALTIMORE (Wednesday, September 10, 2024) — Today, Mayor Brandon M. Scott and the City of Baltimore announced a settlement with Walgreens to resolve the City’s claims against the company for its role in fueling the opioid epidemic in Baltimore. The full terms of the agreement will be made public on October 3, 2024.

The City’s settlement with Walgreens is the fifth it has obtained stemming from its ongoing, six-year case against the opioid distributors and manufacturers that caused the worst opioid epidemic in the nation. It follows settlements with Allergan and CVS for $45 million each, Teva for $80 million, and Cardinal Health for $152.5 million. With today’s additional settlement, the City’s total recoveries from opioid defendants to date have reached $402.5 million. The case against the remaining three defendants — Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen — will proceed to trial next week.

“As part of the settlement, Walgreens requested that we delay announcing the specific terms of the agreement for 30 days,” said City Solicitor Ebony M. Thompson. “In order to resolve the case against it and focus our trial on the worst actors in the opioid epidemic, we agreed to this term.”

“We are proud of our efforts to bring these companies to justice over the past several years,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “The reality is, addressing the opioid epidemic requires an enormous amount of resources and through this litigation, our outside counsel and Law Department have begun to provide that. As we approach the beginning of trial, it is time to finish the job against the remaining defendants and begin using this money to support and grow the work we’ve already been doing to tackle the opioid epidemic where it can do the most good.”

“We remain incredibly proud of our partnership with the City of Baltimore, and we look forward to trial next week,” said Susman Godfrey Partner Bill Carmody, who is leading the outside legal team on this matter.

He is joined by Susman Godfrey attorneys Seth Ard, Sy Polky, Michael Kelso, Rocco Magni, Adam Carlis, Cory Buland, Geng Chen, Krisina Zuñiga, Max Straus, Betsy Aronson, Katherine Drews, Jeff Melsheimer, and Tom Boardman. Sara Gross and Thomas Webb of the Baltimore City Department of Law also represent the City in this case.

The case is Mayor & City Council of Baltimore v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al., 24-C-18-000515 in the Circuit Court of Maryland for Baltimore City.