Opioids
Companies with demonstrated lack of internal controls over opioid marketing, distribution, or prescribing incentives. The test is not simply having manufactured opioids — it is whether the company's incentive structure rewarded volume over safety, whether internal controls were absent or overridden, and whether marketing was designed to increase prescribing beyond clinical need. Includes manufacturers that marketed deceptively, distributors that failed to flag suspicious orders, pharmacy chains that filled without due diligence, and consulting firms that designed volume-maximizing strategies. Recency matters: companies that have genuinely reformed their controls and incentives should be reassessed.
Excluded Companies (12 total)
Showing 10 of 12 companies excluded under this screen.
| Ticker | Company | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| ABBV | AbbVie Inc. | National Opioids Settlement (nationalopioidsettlement.com) - Manufacturer via Allergan subsidiary (acquired by AbbVie 2020); $2.37B settlement over 7 years (Nov 2022); Allergan deceptively marketed op... |
| AMRX | Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Multistate AG Settlement - Generic manufacturer; $272.5M ($92.5M cash + $180M Narcan) effective 2026-01-29; sold nearly 9 billion opioid pills 2006-2019 and failed to monitor and report suspicious ord... |
| CAH | Cardinal Health | $6.0B multistate opioid settlement (2022) for systemic failure to detect and halt suspicious controlled substance orders across distribution network |
| COR | CENCORA INC | Cencora is currently paying out a $6.4 billion nationwide settlement (agreed in 2022, active through 2040) to resolve thousands of lawsuits alleging it failed to maintain effective controls against th... |
| CVS | CVS Health Corporation | CVS Health Corporation agreed to pay approximately $5 billion to resolve civil claims related to its role in the opioid crisis, including failing to adequately monitor opioid prescriptions, as announc... |
| JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | National Opioids Settlement (nationalopioidsettlement.com) - Manufacturer (Janssen Pharmaceuticals); $5.0B settlement over 9 years (finalized 2022-02-25); aggressively marketed opioids by overstating ... |
| KR | Kroger Company (The) | National Opioids Settlement (nationalopioidsettlement.com) - Dispenser/Pharmacy chain; $1.37B settlement over ~18 years (finalized Nov 2024); disregarded its own pharmacy data and customer thresholds,... |
| MCK | McKesson Corporation | National Opioids Settlement (nationalopioidsettlement.com) - Distributor; $7.4B settlement over 18 years (finalized 2022-02-25); failed to maintain effective controls to prevent diversion and report s... |
| TEVA | Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited | National Opioids Settlement (nationalopioidsettlement.com) - Manufacturer; $4.25B cash + $1.2B generic Narcan over 13 years (finalized Dec 2022); illegally marketed opioids and failed to maintain effe... |
| WMT | Walmart Inc. | National Opioids Settlement (nationalopioidsettlement.com) - Dispenser/Pharmacy chain; $3.1B settlement over 6 years (finalized Dec 2022); failed to regulate opioid prescriptions, filled prescriptions... |
The Naughty List
A digest of changes to our exclusion list — new additions, removals, and the evidence behind them. We review the list continuously as new evidence surfaces.