Rite Aid reaches $410M settlement with DOJ in opioid false claims case

Rite Aid building

Rite Aid agreed to pay $7.5 million and allow the Department of Justice (DOJ) to access nearly $402 million from the company’s forthcoming bankruptcy case to settle allegations it helped fuel the nation’s opioid epidemic.

The DOJ case, brought on behalf of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Defense Health Agency, is just one of many local, state, and federal suits against pharmacies, opioid manufacturers, and others alleged to have spurred opioid addiction nationwide.

The case resolves claims brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by three former Rite Aid pharmacy employees, Andrew White, Mark Rosenberg, and Ann Wegelin, the DOJ announced Wednesday in a press release. They will receive 17 percent of the DOJ’s recovery.

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