Rite Aid has decided to close all its Michigan stores by the end of Sept. because of opioid-related lawsuits, stores underperforming, and high debt. The closest store to Berkley High School is even closing. This is all a part of reorganization under Rite Aid’s filing for bankruptcy.
On Oct. 15, 2023, Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows the debtor to retain their business and continue to operate as a trustee. So that means the owner is still in control of the assets and can distribute as seen fairly to creditors, shareholders, and investors. With permission from the court they may even be allowed to borrow new money. A plan of reorganization must be filed with the court and written disclosure agreement. Chapter 11 is going to help reduce Rite aid’s debt immensely. Employees now become Chapter 11 creditors which essentially means they’re owed money from Rite AId. On June 28th, 2024 a United States bankruptcy judge ruled to approve the company’s restructuring plan. The judge also agreed to cut $2 billion off of Rite Aid’s debt. Rite Aid lost 700 stores during bankruptcy. All Rite Aids in the state of Michigan are among those lost, including the beloved Rite Aid on Coolidge.
Prior to filing for bankruptcy, Rite Aid faced accusations of knowingly filling unnecessary opioid prescriptions illegally. Rite Aid had very high debt and many underperforming locations. According to the US Justice Department, Office of Public Affairs, Rite Aid intentionally deleted the internal notes that claimed “Excessive doses for oxycontin”. It’s a pharmacist’s job to look for the red flags within prescriptions. If a patient seems to be struggling with addiction or the prescription is unnecessary the pharmacist is supposed to flag it. Rite Aid was aware that there were suspicious prescriptions and deliberately ignored them.
The opioid crisis has been going on for a long time. The company Purdue Pharma created the opioid oxycontin. It began in the 1990s with the start of the prescription of oxycontin as pain medication. Marketed as a less addictive opioid that was great for pain, it was initially thought to be less addictive. The pharmaceutical reps from Purdue were instructed to state that oxycontin was less addictive due to its slow release properties. Many physicians started to prescribe this opioid to patients. People became hooked and this was the start of a still ongoing epidemic. The Sackler family received a lot of blame for the opioid crisis because they were founders of Purdue Pharma and profited a lot from the opioid crisis. Oxycontin is now known as a highly addictive opioid that has many dangerous side effects, such as respiratory depression. There are many opioids that have very serious side effects. The issue is that the addiction of opioids is everywhere but it’s so common people don’t hear about it enough. Prescribing these prescriptions when it isn’t necessary is extremely dangerous for the health and safety of the patient. It is very serious according to HRSA (Health resources and services administration) “More than 130 people die a day from opioid-related drug overdoses”. Rite Aid is now being accused of contributing to the opioid crisis. This resulted in a lawsuit from the U.S. attorney’s office for violating the False Claims Act.
Rite Aid will be transferring all prescriptions in their system to Walgreens. Patients who would like a different pharmacy must make those arrangements themselves. People who rely on the Rite Aid on Coolidge for their prescriptions may choose to move their prescriptions to Lincoln Drugs directly across the street from Rite Aid or CVS which is a couple blocks away. These are the closest pharmacies to the Rite Aid on Coolidge.
