Alaska Supreme Court revives state’s opioid pharmacy lawsuit against Albertsons, Kroger

The Alaska Supreme Court on Friday overturned a two-year-old lower court decision that dismissed a state lawsuit against Albertsons and Kroger, the corporate parents of Safeway and Fred Meyer, for their role in the state’s prescription opioid addiction epidemic. Writing unanimously for the court, Justice Jude Pate wrote, “we hold that the pharmacies’ failure to fulfill their legal obligations when dispensing opioids unreasonably interfered with public rights protected by the common law.” In this case, the public rights in question are the rights to public health and public safety. The decision means the state’s case can now proceed and be argued on its merits in state Superior Court. In a written statement, the Department of Law said, “We are pleased the Court agreed that our lawsuit against Albertsons and Kroger can proceed based on their alleged wrongful conduct that added to the opioid epidemic.

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