Walgreens, Rite Aid Sued by West Virginia Over Opioid Sales

(Bloomberg) -- Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Rite Aid Corp. were sued by West Virginia for allegedly aiding in suspicious sales of addictive opioid drugs through their pharmacies in the state.

The companies knew they were distributing more drugs than medically necessary, and reaped billions of dollars by filling illegal prescriptions from crooked doctors, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Thursday in a statement. The suits were filed in state court, he said.

“Prescription opioid pill mills and rogue prescribers cannot channel opioids for illicit use without at least the tacit support and willful blindness of distributors, if not their knowing support,” Morrisey said. “Those who unconscionably help create our state’s opioid epidemic should be held accountable, pay for their role in the crisis and act to remediate the problem. West Virginia deserves nothing less.”

Both companies distributed drugs to their pharmacies, which also made purchases from other suppliers. From 2006 to 2014, Rite Aid distributed the equivalent of more than 87 million, 10-milligram oxycodone pills, and its retail pharmacies ordered another 127.5 million from others to fulfill demand, Morrisey said. Walgreens distributed the equivalent of 29.6 million pills, and its pharmacies ordered another 17.6 million, the state alleged.

“We never manufactured or marketed opioids, and never sold opioids to the pain clinics, internet pharmacies and ‘pill mills’ that fueled the opioid crisis,” Phil Caruso, a Walgreens spokesman, said in a statement. “Prior to 2014, unlike other companies involved in this litigation, we delivered opioids only to our own pharmacies, and the only place we ever sold opioids was at the pharmacy counter, when presented with a prescription written by a prescriber, with a valid DEA license, for a legitimate medical need.”

A spokesman for Rite Aid didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Other states and cities have filed similar lawsuits against opioid producers, distributors and pharmacies. West Virginia’s opioid death rate in 2017 was three times higher than the U.S. average, according to the lawsuit. The companies were among the state’s top 10 distributors of opioids.

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