Falling Sales, Opioid Lawsuits Drive Rite Aid Into Bankruptcy
More than a thousand federal, state, and local lawsuits, sales losses, and problem mergers are reportedly behind the pharmacy giant's bankruptcy filing. Also in the news, the tragic deaths of dozens of toddlers in Missouri and Kansas from fentanyl overdoses
The New York Times:
Rite Aid Files For Bankruptcy, Facing Slumping Sales And Opioid Suits
Rite Aid, one of the largest pharmacy chains in the United States, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, weighed down by billions of dollars in debt, declining sales and more than a thousand federal, state and local lawsuits claiming it filled thousands of illegal prescriptions for painkillers. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey. Its largest creditors include the pharmaceutical company McKesson Corporation and the insurer Humana Health. The pharmacy has raised $3.45 billion to fund its operations while it is in bankruptcy, during which it expects to continue to operate its stores and serve its customers. (Holman and Hirsch, 10/15)
The Wall Street Journal:
Rite Aid Files For Bankruptcy, Undone By Years Of Losses
Your local Rite Aid could soon disappear, a casualty of years of losses and failed mergers. In the end, Rite Aid was too small and too poor to pay the costs of lawsuits related to the opioid epidemic. Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy on Sunday in New Jersey, unable to find the money to settle hundreds of federal, state and private lawsuits alleging it oversupplied prescription painkillers. The filing puts all those suits on hold. (Nassauer and Gladstone, 10/15)
In other news about the opioid crisis —
SciTechDaily:
Prisons: The Unexpected Answer To The Opioid Epidemic?
With opioid overdose deaths surging in the United States, many communities are urgently seeking effective solutions. A recent Rutgers-led study has identified strengthening prison reentry programs for the highest-risk users as one of the most promising interventions. (10/15)
Kansas City Star:
Dozens Of Missouri, Kansas Toddlers Die Of Fentanyl Overdoses
The boy’s tiny lifeless body lay on a bed last year inside a home along The Paseo. When Kansas City police officers found 2-year-old Cillian Miller in August 2022, he was wearing only a green T-shirt and was naked from the waist down. Most of his body was covered in a blanket except his feet, which were already discolored, court records show. Strewn throughout the home were new and used syringes, glass pipes and “multiple strips of foil with apparent burnt residue.” One pipe was left underneath a partially eaten McDonald’s cheeseburger on the dining room table. And somewhere inside that home, the child came across fentanyl. (Bauer and Thomas, 10/12)
Mississippi Clarion-Ledger:
A Look At What Mississippi Is Doing To Decrease Overdoses In The State
A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Mississippi discovered that only 37% of pharmacies in Mississippi had Narcan immediately available and more than 40% of pharmacies were unwilling to dispense the drug. (Drape, 10/16)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Fentanyl Crisis Started Long Before Spike In Border Crossings, Experts Say.
Migrants account for only a tiny fraction of drug traffickers, and the influx of fentanyl began long before Mr. Biden took office in 2021, according to experts in law enforcement, immigration and prevention. (Kail, 10/15)
Also —
New Haven Independent:
Yale Fertility Clinic Patients Launch New Lawsuit Over Fentanyl Diversion
Seven former patients at a Yale fertility clinic have launched a new lawsuit against the university — in the latest turn in a high-profile scandal involving fentanyl theft and excruciatingly painful procedures for patients who were told they were getting painkillers, but wound up being operated on sober. (Shirnekhi, 10/14)
Medical Xpress:
Opioid Limits Didn't Change Surgery Patients' Experience, Study Shows
Worries that surgery patients would have a tougher recovery if their doctors had to abide by a five-day limit on opioid pain medication prescriptions didn't play out as expected, a new study finds. Instead, patient-reported pain levels and satisfaction didn't change at all for Michigan adults who had their appendix or gallbladder removed, a hernia repaired, a hysterectomy or other common operations after the state's largest insurer put the limit in place, the study shows. (10/13)
