Kroger Agrees to Pay $1.2 Billion to Settle Opioid Claims

The grocery chain Kroger said on Friday it had agreed to pay about $1.2 billion to states, local governments and Native American tribes to settle claims that its retail pharmacies played a role in fueling the opioid crisis.

Kroger, which was accused of improperly monitoring prescriptions of highly addictive painkillers filled in its store pharmacies, said it would pay the settlement over 11 years, beginning in December. The company said that legal fees, which will be paid over six years, would add $177 million to the total.

Kroger said that it was not admitting wrongdoing by reaching the settlement.