United States of America v. Walmart Inc. et al

  1. March 11, 2024

    Walmart Fails To Sink Feds' Opioid Crisis Lawsuit

    A Delaware federal judge on Monday kept alive a government lawsuit accusing Walmart of fueling the nation's opioid crisis, ruling that the company could be held liable for filling illegitimate prescriptions its compliance officers allegedly failed to flag for unwitting pharmacists.

  2. June 27, 2023

    Supreme Court's Opioid Edict Spawns 'Troubling' Divisions

    Against long odds, two doctors facing decades in prison implored the U.S. Supreme Court to harmonize jury instructions in opioid crisis prosecutions, insisting that innocence in one circuit could be guilt in another. They ultimately prevailed, but one year later, the circuit split surprisingly appears even starker, as one of the doctors eyes freedom, and the other still might live out his life behind bars.

  3. February 17, 2023

    Walmart Rejects Opioid Liability Over 'Unwitting' Pharmacists

    Walmart is urging a Delaware federal judge to dump much of the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit targeting the big-box retailer's sales of prescription opioids, arguing that the government can't pin liability on Walmart for pharmacists who unknowingly filled allegedly invalid prescriptions.

  4. January 18, 2023

    Walmart Aims To 'Weaken' Opioid Script Laws, DOJ Says

    The government urged a Delaware federal judge Tuesday to deny Walmart's attempt to escape much of the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit targeting the big-box retailer's sales of prescription opioids, arguing that Walmart's narrow interpretation of the law would "weaken" the Controlled Substances Act and allow companies to skirt reporting obligations.

  5. December 16, 2022

    Leading Conservative Atty Retires After Decades At Jones Day

    Michael Carvin, the brusque, cigar-chomping attorney best known for forcefully championing conservative causes in the Supreme Court, is retiring after more than 20 years at Jones Day.

  6. November 07, 2022

    Walmart Rips 'Monday-Morning Quarterbacking' In Opioid Suit

    Walmart is asking a Delaware federal judge to throw out most of a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit targeting the big-box retailer's sales of prescription opioids, saying the latest version of the case is far too broad.

  7. October 11, 2022

    DOJ Overhauls Walmart Opioid Suit After High Court Decree

    Amid the U.S. Supreme Court's new standards for Controlled Substances Act cases, the U.S. Department of Justice is striving to salvage a sweeping suit targeting Walmart's sales of prescription narcotics, insisting that company officials "routinely ignored" their own suspicions about opioid orders.

  8. November 22, 2021

    DOJ-Walmart Opioid Battle Halted As High Court Reviews CSA

    The U.S. Department of Justice's sweeping lawsuit contending that Walmart's 5,000 pharmacies "helped fuel a national crisis" of opioid abuse is being halted until the U.S. Supreme Court decides newly accepted cases involving the boundaries of Controlled Substances Act enforcement, a Delaware federal judge ruled.

  9. May 11, 2021

    Walmart Wants 5th Circ. To Revive Opioid Suit Against Feds

    Walmart Inc. has asked the Fifth Circuit to resurrect its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice in which the retail giant sought a declaration that its prescription opioid sales are lawful, arguing that pre-enforcement review is a standard route for entities looking to clarify the scope of the law without waiting to be sued.

  10. March 04, 2021

    DOJ's 'Troubling' Theory Gains Walmart Allies In Opioid Case

    Business groups, a pro-business think tank and a drug store advocacy group have backed Walmart's attempt to torpedo the federal government's suit claiming the retail chain helped spur the nationwide opioid epidemic by failing to scrutinize suspicious prescriptions.