Att. Gen. Coleman sues Kroger for its alleged role in opioid crisis

BULLITT CO., Ky. (WTVQ) —- Attorney General Russell Coleman announced a lawsuit against Kroger on Monday, alleging they have a role in Kentucky’s opioid crisis.

One of Coleman’s top priorities is fighting the drug epidemic. He says Kroger has made addictive substances “all too accessible” and failed to create a system to report suspicious activity or abuse. Also adding Kroger bought the equivalent of 444 million opioid doses for Kentucky.

“For more than a decade, Kroger flooded Kentucky with an almost unthinkable number of opioid pills that directly led to addiction, pain and death,” Coleman said.

The lawsuit alleges Kroger:

• Bought over four billion morphine milligram equivalents of opioids for Kentucky between 2006-2019;
• Distributed almost 194 million hydrocodone pills to its Kentucky pharmacies between 2006-2019; and
• Failed to implement any effective monitoring program to stop suspicious opioid orders.

The lawsuit also alleged Kroger did not report any suspicious prescription in the Commonwealth for seven years, despite clear red flags.

To read the entire lawsuit, click here.