Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced Monday that the state will receive approximately $42.9 million from a settlement with Kroger over the grocery chain’s opioid-related misconduct.
The Volunteer State’s settlement with Kroger is part of a combined $1.37 billion settlement agreement between the grocery chain and a bipartisan coalition of 30 state attorneys general.
According to Skrmetti’s office, the state is expected to begin receiving payments from the settlement by early 2025.
“Today’s settlement with Kroger represents another significant step in Tennessee’s fight against the opioid epidemic,” Skrmetti said in a statement. “By holding accountable those who contributed to this epidemic, Tennessee will obtain settlement funds to address the harms inflicted by opioid abuse on families and communities across the State.”
The settlement funds paid out by Kroger will go to Tennessee’s Opioid Abatement Trust Fund to support local efforts across the Volunteer State addressing the opioid epidemic.
The trust fund is overseen by Tennessee’s Opioid Abatement Council, which was formed by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2021 to “oversee the trust and ensure funds related to opioid abuse, misuse, prevention, and awareness are dispersed throughout the state.”
Direct payments from the trust fund are paid out to counties across the state for utilization by local leaders to “direct spending on programs to address the effects of opioids on their citizens and communities.”
In addition to the settlement payout to states, Kroger has also agreed to injunctive relief that “requires its pharmacies to monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions,” Skrmetti’s office notes.
Kroger operates 116 grocery stores across Tennessee.
With the grocery chain’s settlement, Tennessee has secured more than $1 billion in settlements from various parties involved in the opioid crisis to date, with most funds directed to the state’s Opioid Abatement Trust Fund.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Kroger Store” by Nicholas Eckhart. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
