Speaking at the Life Learning Center in Covington, state Attorney General Russell Coleman announces the settlement of his office’s opioid lawsuit against The Kroger Company, Jan. 9, 2025. (Screenshot)
Over the next nine years, Kentucky is set to receive $110 million from a settlement with Kroger that will go to addressing the opioid crisis, Attorney General Russell Coleman announced Thursday.
This comes nearly a year after Coleman sued Kroger, alleging the grocery retail chain contributed to the opioid crisis.
Speaking in Covington Thursday, Coleman said his office “didn’t take the decision lightly” because “Kroger has created a public image of trust in this region and in many parts of our Commonwealth.”
But, he alleged, “Kroger and its more than 100 pharmacies across Kentucky were responsible for roughly 444 million opioid doses coming into our Commonwealth over a 13-year period. That’s more than 100 opioid doses for every man, woman and child in Kentucky.”
In the settlement, Kroger denies any wrongdoing, saying the legal agreement is “solely for the purpose of settlement, and nothing contained herein may be taken as or construed to be an admission or concession of any violation of law, rule, regulation, or ordinance, or of any other matter of fact or law, or of any fault, liability, or wrongdoing, all of which Kroger denies.”
The terms of the settlement say Kroger must pay Kentucky an initial payment of about $6 million within 30 days. Then, the company owes the state five annual payments of about $6 million every March 31 from 2025 until 2029.
Then, from 2030 to 2034, the company will pay Kentucky about $7 million every March 31. Finally, Kroger will pay out about $8 million on March 31 of every year from 2035 to 2038.
Half of these settlement dollars will go to the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission and the other half will be distributed among Kentucky’s counties and cities, according to Coleman’s office.
“For over a decade, Kroger tragically fed the flames of the drug addiction fire that rages across every county of our Commonwealth. But this devastation isn’t the end of the story: Kentucky is resilient, and we get back up, no matter how many times we are knocked down,” Coleman said in a statement. “Today, with $110 million invested in recovery efforts in Kentucky, Kroger has agreed to be part of the solution.”
To apply for opioid settlement dollar grants, visit https://kyjusticeigx.intelligrants.com/IGXLogin.
A new application period opened Dec. 2 and closes at 6 p.m. on Jan. 17. So far, the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission has awarded 110 grants worth more than $55 million toward treatment, prevention and recovery efforts.
Read final consent judgment
2024.01.09 Kentucky_Kroger As Filed Consent Judgement