Washington AG seeks sanctions against Albertson’s in opioid suit

The state Attorney General’s Office has accused Albertsons of using a legal loophole to avoid punishment in a consumer protection suit accusing the grocery store’s pharmacies of fueling the opioid epidemic.

On Wednesday, the AG’s office filed a motion claiming Albertsons and affiliate Safeway companies failed to provide timely responses to questions asked by the state in the case alleging the stores are responsible for opioid addictions and overdoses in Washington. The motion, first reported on by Law360, claimed the grocery chain abused a pause in the case granted by a judge to shield itself from handing over key evidence .

“Albertsons denied that it was required to respond at all,” reads the 11-page motion filed in King County Superior Court.

The unanswered questions the state asked of the grocery store chain included the names of Washington pharmacists and employees who worked at its headquarters when the companies were accused of breaking consumer protection law in their administration of opioid prescriptions, according to the motion.

Attorneys representing the state are calling on the judge in the case to sanction the grocery store chain.

An attorney representing Albertsons in the case did not respond to a reporter’s request for comment Friday.

The motion is the newest development in a two-year legal battle between the state and the grocery chain, along with other defendant companies in the case, including Rite Aid, Fred Meyer, Bartell Drugs and Kroger.

In 2022, the state filed suit against the pharmacy chains, blaming them for causing skyrocketing overdose rates by filling opioid prescriptions without ensuring the drugs were being used properly.

“In 2021, more than four Washingtonians died each day from opioid overdoses,” reads a legal complaint filed by the state. “Between 2006 and 2021, opioid overdoses killed more than 12,000 Washingtonians, more than either car accidents or firearms.”

In 2011, 112 million daily doses of prescription opioids were transported into Washington, according to the AG’s office. That number was enough to supply every resident in the state with a 16-day supply of opioids.