03:06 PM EST, 01/09/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with statement from Kroger ( KR ) in the fourth and fifth paragraphs.)

Kroger ( KR ) has agreed to pay nearly $110 million to the state of Kentucky to settle claims it played a role in the deadly opioid epidemic, according to a copy of the settlement seen by MT Newswires Thursday.

Under the settlement agreement, the company will pay $43.4 million to the state plus $66.6 million, the amount that Kentucky would have received had it participated in the supermarket chain's broader deal with multiple states last year.

Kroger ( KR ) announced a $1.4 billion settlement last year to resolve similar claims by multiple states, counties, and Native American tribes.

A Kroger ( KR ) spokesperson told MT Newswires the company was pleased to have reached a settlement but denied claims that it did not have internal training or guardrails around filling prescriptions for opioids.

"The company has long provided associates throughout the pharmacy with robust training, as well as tools to assist pharmacists in their professional judgment, including, being the first major retail pharmacy to integrate state prescription drug monitoring directly into our pharmacy system," the spokesperson told MT Newswires in an email.

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