Rite Aid Agrees to Pay $30,000 to Resolve Alleged Violations of the Controlled Substances Act

            CONCORD – United States Attorney John J. Farley announced today that Rite Aid has agreed to pay $30,000 in civil monetary penalties to resolve allegations that it violated the Controlled Substances Act when its pharmacists filled forged prescriptions at a Rite Aid store in Manchester.

            In the agreement, Maxi Drug North, Inc. d/b/a Rite Aid agreed to pay $30,000 to resolve allegations that its pharmacists filled 15 forged prescriptions for the same individual at its location at Mammoth Road in Manchester between October of 2016 and March of 2018. 

            Under the Controlled Substances Act, a valid prescription for a controlled substance must be issued for a legitimate medical purpose by an individual practitioner acting in the usual course of his or her practice.  Based on its investigation, the government alleged that the pharmacists at Rite Aid should have known that they were presented with invalid prescriptions that should not have been filled. 

            Rite Aid denied liability in this matter and cooperated with the government’s investigation.

            “Criminals use a wide variety of methods to obtain controlled substances, including passing forged prescriptions,” said U.S. Attorney Farley.  “When pharmacies dispense controlled substances to customers, they have an obligation to ensure that the prescriptions they fill are legitimate.  If a pharmacy does not adequately scrutinize prescriptions, potentially dangerous drugs can be diverted to unlawful uses that jeopardize public safety.  We will use the Controlled Substances Act and all available tools to protect public health and safety in the Granite State.  I am grateful to the DEA’s diversion investigators for their investigative work in this case and their ongoing efforts to protect the residents of New Hampshire.”

            The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Raphael Katz.  The matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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