WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. government on Monday sued Rite Aid Corp, accusing the pharmacy chain of missing red flags as it illegally filled hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids. According to the Department of Justice, Rite Aid filled the prescriptions from May 2014 to June 2019 even though they lacked legitimate […]
U.S.
US sues Rite Aid for missing opioid red flags
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. government on Monday sued Rite Aid Corp, accusing the pharmacy chain of missing red flags as it illegally filled hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids.
According to the Department of Justice, Rite Aid filled the prescriptions from May 2014 to June 2019 even though they lacked legitimate medical purposes, were for off-label use, or were not issued in the usual course of professional practice.
The department said Rite Aid pharmacists filled the prescriptions, including for oxycodone and fentanyl, despite clear “red flags” it was wrong, while the company intentionally deleted internal written warnings 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,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a statement.
Rite Aid did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Justice Department made its accusations as it joined a whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2019, and now pending in Ohio. It said Rite Aid has more than 2,200 pharmacies in 17 U.S. states.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Eric Beech in Washington; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Marguerita Choy)