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PHILADELPHIA — Rite Aid has reportedly filed a lawsuit to stop the U.S. Department of Justice from proceeding with a lawsuit against the company over its alleged involvement in nation’s opioid crisis.
The DOJ, which sued Rite Aid in March, agreed only to a “brief pause” of its lawsuit after Rite Aid filed for bankrupt last month, a position that threatens to undermine the company’s restructuring efforts, Rite Aid said in a complaint filed on Thursday in New Jersey bankruptcy court.
Rite Aid asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan to rule that the DOJ lawsuit cannot proceed while Rite Aid is bankrupt, which would put the government on equal footing with other opioid plaintiffs whose lawsuits were automatically stopped by the company’s bankruptcy filing.
The DOJ has argued that U.S. bankruptcy law does not stop it from exercising its “police powers” through its lawsuit.
Rite Aid would not concede that point, and said Kaplan, who is overseeing the company’s Chapter 11 proceedings, should rule on that dispute rather than the judge overseeing the DOJ’s lawsuit in Cleveland federal court.
Rite Aid attorney Josh Sussberg said in court that the pharmacy chain’s bankruptcy is “not an opioid case” like Endo or Purdue, because the company’s significant retail operation costs create more pressure to quickly reach a bankruptcy settlement.
