Huntsville City Council authorized the city to join the list of local governments that will participate in an opioid lawsuit against three retail pharmacy chains. The lawsuit claims CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart pharmacies did little to stop the flood of pills that led to hundreds of overdose deaths. Huntsville now joins several cities in North Alabama in being added to a lawsuit settlement. A multi-million-dollar settlement was reached between Walmart and 300 Alabama towns. In November, the three big chains each said they would pay about $5 billion total to resolve a host of lawsuits. This comes after years of litigation over the drug industry’s role in an overdose crisis that has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the United States over the past two decades.

The Alabama House of Representatives passed SB 227 on Thursday, April 29, 2021in a 31-0 vote. This bill ensures that Alabama patients, rather than insurance companies' pharmacy benefit manager, will get to choose their own pharmacy without being incentivized by PBMs with lower rates.