The legal battle over the origins and sustenance of the opioid crisis in the Pacific Northwest entered a new phase Monday as trial proceedings began in King County Superior Court against Albertsons.
Prosecutors also identified a family medicine physician whose prescriptions accounted for 60% of all oxycodone dispensed at one specific store.
By highlighting these past government positions, Albertsons seeks to argue that it was operating within a culture of pain management that was sanctioned, and even demanded, by the state itself.
Investigation Into Safeway Drug Diversion and DEA Violations A central pillar of the state’s evidence involves past failures in internal controls, including a high-profile case involving a Safeway location in North Bend.
The Washington State Standard details how the defense is using these state-level mandates to justify the high volume of prescriptions filled.
Washington state seeks damages from Albertsons in a new trial, alleging the grocery giant ignored red flags while dispensing 641 million opioid pills.