Walgreens contributed to San Francisco opioid crisis, judge rules

San Francisco — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Walgreens can be held responsible for contributing to San Francisco's opioid crisis for over-dispensing highly addictive drugs for years without proper oversight and failing to identify and report suspicious orders as required by law.

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the pharmacy chain "continually violated what they were required to do under the federal Controlled Substances Act," failing to track opioid prescriptions, preventing pharmacists from vetting prescriptions and not seeing "the many red flags of physicians and others who were dramatically over-prescribing."

"Pharmacists were pressured to fill, fill, fill," he said, "and as a result, Walgreens filled our streets with opioids."

"This decision gives voice to the thousands of lives lost to the opioid epidemic," Chiu said in a prepared statement cited by CBS News Bay Area. "This crisis did not come out of nowhere. It was created by the opioid industry, and local jurisdictions like San Francisco have had to shoulder the burden for far too long. We are grateful the Court heard our arguments and held Walgreens responsible for the damage they caused."