Walmart, CVS, Walgreens Must Pay $650 Million in Opioid Case (2)

Walmart Inc., CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. were ordered to pay a total of $650 million over their failure to properly monitor opioid prescriptions in Ohio, in the drug industry’s latest setback in the sprawling litigation over the painkillers.

A federal judge in Cleveland on Wednesday ruled that the companies must pay the “abatement” fees over 15 years to help two Ohio counties deal with the fallout from the public health crisis created by the improper sale of the drugs.

US District Judge Dan Polster also ordered the pharmacy chains to set up systems “to ensure ...