WISCONSIN — Kroger will pay Wisconsin $21.8 million for its role in the opioid crisis, Attorney General Josh Kaul announced on Monday.

What You Need To Know

  • Kroger will pay Wisconsin $21.8 million for its role in the opioid crisis

  • Payments are expected to begin this year
  • Wisconsin his expected to get more than $780 billion in opioid settlements with distributors, manufacturers, pharmacies and consultants
  • This latest settlement is part of a multi-state $1.37 billion agreement reached last fall by 30 attorneys generals

Kaul said a consent agreement was reached with the grocery chain on March 18 and that payments are expected this year.

“We’ve begun to turn a corner in the fight against the opioid epidemic, but there’s much more work to do,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “These and other funds that we’ve helped to secure will assist Wisconsin communities with this essential work.”

Wisconsin is expected to get more than $780 billion in opioid settlements with distributors, manufacturers, pharmacies and consultants.

This latest settlement is part of a multi-state $1.37 billion agreement reached last fall by 30 attorneys generals.

In the agreement, Kroger will also require its pharmacies to monitor, report and share data regarding “suspicious activity” with opioid prescriptions. The chain operates more than 100 stores in Wisconsin under its namesake and others, such as Harris Teeter, Dillons, Fred Meyer, Smith’s Food and Drug, Ralphs, King Soopers, Fry’s, QFC, City Market, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker’s, Gerbes, Pick ‘n Save, Metro Market and Mariano’s.

Wisconsin has so far received $75.3 million in funding, Wisconsin Department of Health Services data shows. The largest amount of that money is going toward capital projects at or for treatment facilities.

A recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report found that as Wisconsin starts to receive these funds, opioid-related deaths are decreasing for the first time in decades. For the year of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data ending in June 2024, there were 1,075 opioid deaths in the state, which is the lowest level of deaths since April 2020.

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