30-State coalition announce opioid settlement with Kroger

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement announcing that Arkansas will receive up to $13,535,086.30 as its share of a $1.37 billion settlement with Arkansas, 29 other states, and Kroger over its role in the opioid crisis:
“Opioid addiction continues to be a scourge in Arkansas and our nation. I am pleased with this settlement as the funds will go to opioid abatement. I am grateful to the bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general who worked together on behalf of their citizens to hold Kroger accountable.”
Arkansas’s share will be paid over 11 payments through 2034. Kroger has agreed to injunctive relief that requires its pharmacies to monitor, report, and share data about suspicious activity related to opioid prescriptions.

Between 2006 and 2014, Arkansas was flooded with almost 1.5 billion units of addictive opioids. By 2016, Arkansas had the second-highest opioid prescription rate in the nation, with 114.6 opioids being dispersed for every 100 Arkansans.
In November 2023, Griffin announced a grant of $50 million of the state’s opioid settlement funds to help establish the National Center for Opioid Research & Clinical Effectiveness (NCOR) at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.