(Reuters) – Drugstore chain Rite Aid is the latest U.S. company to seek bankruptcy protection following pressure from lawsuits alleging that they helped fuel the opioid crisis.
Opioid drugs have been one of the major causes of the more than one million deaths since 1999 tied to drug overdose, according to data from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Litigation against drugmakers, pharmacies and distributors, claiming that drugmakers downplayed the risks of opioids and that distributors and pharmacies failed to prevent them from being diverted to the illegal market has resulted in more than $50 billion in total settlements.
Here is a list of companies forced to file for bankruptcy protection, mainly due to U.S. opioid lawsuits and settlements.
COMPANY BANKRUPTCY DETAILS
FILING DATE
RITE Aid October 2023 Rite Aid files for bankruptcy protection and
says it will close underperforming stores.
The company adds it has received a commitment
for $3.45 billion from some lenders to stay
afloat during the bankruptcy process.
Mallinckrodt August 2023 Ireland-based drugmaker files for its second
bankruptcy in the United States in a move
that reduced $1 billion from what it owes to
victims of the U.S. opioid crisis.
Endo International August 2022 U.S. drugmaker files for bankruptcy seeking
to settle thousands of lawsuits over its
alleged role in the opioid epidemic.
Rochester Drug March 2020 Drug distributor files for bankruptcy, nearly
Co-operative a year after it became the first
pharmaceutical distributor to be criminally
charged in relation to the opioid crisis.
Purdue Pharma September OxyContin maker files for bankruptcy as part
2019 of proposed $10 billion settlement for its
creditors, individual victims of addiction
and others who sued the company. The US
Supreme Court halts settlement in August
after government challenges its legality amid
concerns it would shield its wealthy owners,
the Sackler family.
Insys Therapeutics June 2019 The drugmaker files for bankruptcy protection
amid mounting expenses driven by a U.S.
Justice Department probe into claims it paid
doctors bribes to prescribe a powerful opioid
medication.
(Reporting by Pratik Jain and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
