DOJ sues Rite Aid over role in opioid epidemic
The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Rite Aid for allegedly filling unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances and missing red flags.
The lawsuit, brought about under the False Claims Act, also alleges Rite Aid violated the Controlled Substances Act. Rite Aid, one of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains with more than 2,200 locations in 17 states, and its subsidiaries are named in the complaint.
The lawsuit comes as pharmacies have been among several industry stakeholders hit with enormous legal implications in the opioid overdose and abuse epidemic in the United States. Drugmakers have also come under fire in the last several years, shelling out billions in settlements to specific localities. More than 106,000 persons in the U.S. died from drug-involved overdose in 2021, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The Justice Department’s complaint is in intervention with a whistleblower lawsuit against Rite Aid filed in 2019. The Department can join whistleblower lawsuits it considers strong.
“We allege that Rite Aid filled hundreds of thousands of prescriptions that did not meet legal requirements,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a statement. “According to our complaint, Rite Aid’s pharmacists repeatedly filled prescriptions for controlled substances with obvious red flags, and Rite Aid intentionally deleted internal notes about suspicious prescribers. These practices opened the floodgates for millions of opioid pills and other controlled substances to flow illegally out of Rite Aid’s stores.”
According to the complaint, Rite Aid allegedly filled “at least” hundreds of thousands of unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked legitimate medical purpose, were not for a medically accepted indication or were not issued in the usual course of professional practice. The prescriptions often included dangerous and highly abused combinations of drugs, including what is known as “the trinity,” as well as prescriptions for excessive quantities of opioids, such as oxycodone and fentanyl, and prescriptions from prescribers that Rite Aid pharmacists had identified internally as writing illegitimate prescriptions.
The government’s complaint alleges Rite Aid missed “red flags” that the prescriptions were unlawful, but pharmacists filled them anyway. Worse, Rite Aid allegedly deleted internal notes about suspicious prescribers and even went so far as directing regional managers to warn pharmacists to be mindful of everything they put in writing.
Three whistleblowers who previously worked at various Rite Aid pharmacies filed an action in October 2019 under the FCA, and the Justice Department is allowed to take over the lawsuit, as it has done in part for this case.
“Pharmacies, physicians, corporations, and other health care entities that have contributed to the proliferation of opioids in our communities and the tragic loss of life from overdose deaths must answer for their role in the crisis we now face,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler for the Northern District of Ohio said in a statement. “This complaint is a continuation of the Justice Department’s commitment to hold accountable those entities that aggravated and profited from the opioid crisis.”
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."