The Department of Justice sued Rite Aid over repeated unlawful opioid prescriptions
One of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains helped fuel the deadly opioid epidemic by illegally dispensing hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for controlled substances, the Justice Department claimed in a blockbuster lawsuit.
One of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains helped fuel the deadly opioid epidemic by illegally dispensing hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for controlled substances, the Justice Department claimed in a blockbuster lawsuit.
In a complaint filed in Cleveland federal court on Monday, the federal agency accused Rite Aid of repeatedly filling unlawful combinations of prescriptions known as “the trinity” — which include “excessive quantities of opioids such as oxycodone and fentanyl” — between May 2014 and June 2019.
“The Justice Department is using every tool at our disposal to confront the opioid epidemic that is killing Americans and shattering communities across the country,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Pharmacists who worked at Rite Aid, which has more than 2,330 stores in 17 states, engaged in practices with obvious red flags. The company intentionally deleted internal notes about suspicious prescribers, alleged Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.
According to the lawsuit, Rite Aid received thousands of orders for opioids that were deemed suspicious by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Despite this, the company allegedly failed to report these orders to the DEA as required by law. The lawsuit also alleges that Rite Aid dispensed opioids without a legitimate medical purpose and failed to maintain records of these prescriptions properly.
The Justice Department accused Rite Aid of violating the federal False Claims Act by submitting false prescription claims to government healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
It joined a whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2019 by two pharmacists and a pharmacy technician from Rite Aid stores in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and West Virginia.
Andrew White, Mark Rosenberg, and Ann Wegelin brought a lawsuit against the chain in October 2019, alleging that the company pressured pharmacists to quickly fill prescriptions without conducting proper “red flag” research, which could include looking into a doctor who is writing large amounts of opioid prescriptions or customers who showed signs of doctor-shopping, The Guardian reported.
The opioid epidemic has been a major public health crisis in the United States, with millions of people becoming addicted to prescription painkillers and illegal opioids such as heroin and fentanyl.
The DOJ has been cracking down on companies that contribute to the problem, including drug manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies.
The lawsuit against Rite Aid serves as a reminder that companies are responsible for monitoring and reporting suspicious orders of opioids and that those who fail to do so will face legal consequences. The Justice Department has also sued Walmart and drug distributor AmerisourceBergen Corp over their alleged contributions to the nation’s opioid crisis.
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