Brian Mann

One of the nation's top retailers Walmart faces growing legal and financial peril stemming from claims its pharmacy chain helped fuel America's opioid epidemic.

The Justice Department Tuesday filed a civil suit accusing the company of failing to stop "hundreds of thousands" of improper opioid transactions at its warehouses and pharmacies.

The DOJ is seeking penalties it says could run into the billions of dollars.

Updated at 1:22 p.m. ET

Members of the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma's CEO say they did nothing wrong during the years their company illegally marketed Oxycontin and other opioids.

"There's nothing I can find that I would have done differently," said Dr. Kathe Sackler who served on Purdue's board for nearly 20 years.

One of the world's most influential corporate consulting firms, McKinsey & Company, says it regrets efforts to boost sales of OxyContin and other highly addictive opioids.

The rare apology follows revelations in documents made public last month for the first time that showed McKinsey working closely with Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family who sat on Purdue's board.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday that family gatherings over the holidays should be limited to fewer than 10 people.

Fauci made the comment while appearing via video link on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's coronavirus briefing.

Cuomo asked Fauci for his view on New York's emergency rule, implemented last month, capping private in-home gatherings at 10 participants.

A federal bankruptcy judge approved a controversial $8.3 billion settlement late Tuesday between Purdue Pharma and the Department of Justice.

The deal first unveiled last month stems from the company's decades-long manufacture and marketing of Oxycontin and other highly addictive opioid medications.

Under terms approved by Judge Robert Drain, Purdue Pharma will plead guilty to three felony counts of criminal wrongdoing.