The City of Baltimore has signed onto a statewide settlement with Walmart resolving claims of the company’s responsibility for the opioid crisis.
Mayor Brandon M. Scott on Thursday announced Baltimore would be joining the settlement, but that the city will not sign onto the remaining global settlements in which Maryland is participating. Baltimore City’s portion of the statewide settlement is expected to be just over $7.2 million.
“The opioid epidemic, which was directly brought on by corporate greed and irresponsibility, has been disastrous for our great city and has plagued communities across the country,” Scott said. “Walmart has reached this settlement in an effort to rectify the damage it has done, and with these funds, our City will be able to invest more in addressing the ongoing problem of opioids here in Baltimore. While this money will not restore the lives and families destroyed by addiction, it is an important step in accountability, and my administration will always continue our efforts to hold corporate bad actors responsible when they harm Baltimore.”
In 2018, Baltimore City filed suit against several manufacturers and distributors for their roles in perpetuating the opioid crisis in the city. It is widely recognized as one of the cities most severely harmed by the opioids epidemic.
In 2021, Baltimore City saw 1079 drug and alcohol-related deaths, 973 of which were Fentanyl-related. This is nearly triple the number of people who died from homicide the same year. The city’s health department has been battling the drug crisis with a multi-pronged approach, including a needle exchange program, training with and access to Naloxone (Narcan), fighting stigma through education, increasing access to treatment, and prevention.
In the past, Baltimore had refused to sign on to other state settlements offered by defendants in the case because it would have only netted the City less than $3 million a year, paid out over almost two decades.
“We chose to go this route, because the settlement offered by Walmart is commensurate with its small market share here, as well as the fact that it hasn’t operated in the City since 2016” said City Solicitor Ebony M. Thompson. “So far, we have declined the global settlements so that we can continue to pursue our cases. Those particular settlements offered by the defendants would have paid mere pennies on the dollar for their actions. Instead, we will continue to fight to ensure that the other opioid companies pay their fair share for inflicting this devastation on Baltimore.”
Baltimore City’s case against the opioid defendants is set to begin in Circuit Court for Baltimore City in September 2024.
In November 2023, Baltimore City received $538,977.62 from the Mallinckrodt bankruptcy settlement, which brought the total recovery from that company to just over $1.01 million. The new Walmart settlement will be in addition to that.
