Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican from Texas, is looking into complaints concerning the selling of opioids at Walmart pharmacies.

According to a press statement from his office, Paxton sent Walmart a civil investigative demand for possible violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act concerning allegations of opioid prescriptions being improperly filled and failing to report suspicious users.

The CID has to do with the advertisement, marketing, distribution, and dispensing of prescription opioids.

Here’s what Paxton said in a release:

“I have fought for Texans who have been tragically impacted by the illegal marketing and sale of opioids, which have caused addiction and the untimely deaths of thousands of people each year. I am committed to holding pharmacies accountable if they played a role in this devastating epidemic.”

The probe will focus on Walmart’s compliance with providing the Drug Enforcement Administration and state agencies with documents pertaining to opioid orders dating back to January 2006.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) designated the nation’s opioid problem a public health emergency.

“Devastating consequences of the opioid epidemic include increases in opioid misuse and related overdoses, as well as the rising incidence of newborns experiencing withdrawal syndrome due to opioid use and misuse during pregnancy,”  the HHS statement said.

In a statement, Walmart said it has “never manufactured, marketed or promoted opioids, and pharmacists aren’t doctors and don’t write opioid prescriptions.”

“We are confident in our record helping fight the opioid crisis, and we are proud of our pharmacists, who help patients understand the risks about opioid prescriptions, and have refused to fill hundreds of thousands of opioid prescriptions they thought could be problematic,” the statement said.

“As a result of Walmart’s refusal to fill opioid prescriptions, many health regulators (including the Texas Medical Board), medical groups, doctors and patients say that Walmart is going too far in refusing to fill opioid prescriptions, and even say we are improperly interfering in the doctor-patient relationship. Walmart and our pharmacists are torn between the demands on pharmacists imposed by opioids plaintiffs on one side and health agencies and regulators on the other, and patients are caught in the middle.”

However, Walmart was sued by the federal government in 2020 for contributing to the country’s opioid crisis.

“Every community across the nation has been touched by the opioid crisis. We’ve lost more than a million Americans to this epidemic, and sadly, it’s at an all-time high as overdose deaths continue to rise in the face of the pandemic and its resulting anxiety, stress, and dislocation,” Paxton noted regarding the scope of the opioid crisis.

In a complaint filed by the Justice Department, Walmart was accused of trying to increase profits by understaffing its pharmacies and forcing staff members to fill prescriptions rapidly. The lawsuit claims that made it challenging for pharmacists to refuse bogus prescriptions, which encouraged rampant drug misuse across the country.

Here’s what Paxton said in February:

“Texans have been devastated by the opioid crisis and it is important that this settlement is proportioned fairly among the communities that need it most.”

“Pharmaceutical companies that have been at the root of the problem must be involved in not only changing their business practices to keep this tragic epidemic from taking more lives in the future, but also by providing treatment for those currently still struggling with opioid addiction,” he added.

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Sources: Westernjournal, Reuters, Kvue,