CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Rite Aid has agreed to pay $30,000 in a settlement to resolve allegations that its pharmacists at a Manchester store forged 15 prescriptions for an individual, the U.S. attorney’s office in New Hampshire said.
Prosecutors alleged that from Oct. 19, 2016, to March 8, 2018, pharmacists filled the prescriptions and should have known they were not valid under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
Maxi Drug North, doing business as Rite Aid, denied the allegations. It said in a settlement agreement with prosecutors dated Jan. 20 that the prescriptions “appeared legitimate on their face, that the pharmacists who filled them did so believing that they were genuine.”
The company said that “upon hearing of the forgeries,” it assisted the Drug Enforcement Administration in obtaining evidence to prosecute the individual, according to the settlement agreement.
The agreement “is not an admission of liability” by Maxi Drug North, “nor is it a contention by the United States that its claims are not well founded and substantially justified,” according to the document.
The parties said the settlement was reached to avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenience and expense of protracted litigation.
(Copyright (c) 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)