Feds sue Walmart over role in opioid crisis

The US Justice Department has sued Walmart, accusing the retail behemoth of allegedly fueling the opioid crisis in the country.

In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, prosecutors from the Justice Department said "Walmart's pharmacies violated the law by filling thousands of prescriptions for controlled substances that Walmart's pharmacists knew were invalid".

The Justice Department is seeking civil penalties that could run into the billions of dollars.

The suit alleged that Walmart "knowingly violated well established rules requiring it to scrutinise controlled-substance prescriptions to ensure that they were valid" and required "pharmacists to process a high volume of prescriptions as fast as possible," reports NBC News.