Rite Aid, With 38 Stores In MD, Prepares For Bankruptcy: Reports

MARYLAND — Amid more than a thousand opioid lawsuits and a $3.3 billion debt load, reports say Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid is preparing to file for bankruptcy.

The pharmaceutical retailer has 38 stores in Maryland. A store at 833 S. Salisbury Blvd. in Salisbury is still listed as open on the chain's website, but DelmarvaNow reported it closed Sept. 6.

Patch has reached out to the company for any impending closures in the state.

The pharmacy chain is planning to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to address more than 1,000 state and federal lawsuits it faces for allegedly contributing to the opioid epidemic, according to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.

Rite Aid reported a net loss of $307 million in the first quarter of 2023, compared to last year’s first quarter net loss of $110.2 million.

Rite Aid has not publicly addressed the bankruptcy filing reports, and sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg the company is still finalizing its plans.

The filing is expected to include the closure of more than 400 of its more than 2,200 stores, Yahoo Finance reported.

As of Sept. 13, the company has not filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with the state of Maryland, which is required in the case of a mass closure and/or mass layoff.

According to the company, prior to the shutdown, they will review each neighborhood to ensure that consumers have access to health services, whether at Rite Aid or a neighboring pharmacy, and will make every effort to smoothly transfer their prescriptions so that services are not disturbed.

Rite Aid management also said they make every effort to move associates to other Rite Aid sites.

The Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against Rite Aid in May, claiming that the company violated the Controlled Substances Act by repeatedly filling prescriptions “with obvious red flags” and intentionally deleting notes about suspicious prescribers.

Rite Aid has more than 2,200 pharmacies in 17 states.

Includes reporting by Patch Editor Michelle Rotuno-Johnson.