By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Groveland Twp. — Rite Aid officials announced a closure date for the Ortonville Rite Aid.
On July 26, company officials announced that the Ortonville Rite Aid, 10 South St. was one of 30 that will close. The pharmacy will close on Aug. 7, however, no date was announced for the store’s last day.
Other nearby Rite Aid closures include 15242 North Holly Road, Holly.
Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy in October 2023, citing under-performing stores. It struggled over recent years amid opioid lawsuits. In 2022, it settled for up to $30 million after its pharmacies were accused of contributing to an oversupply of prescription opioids.
The U.S. Dept. of Justice filed suit against the company in March 2023, claiming that it knowingly processed “unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances.” That stands in violation of the False Claims Act and Controlled Substances Act. The government accused Rite Aid of missing “obvious red flags” when it filled the prescriptions for addictive painkillers.
The company faces more than $3.3 billion in debt, and over a thousand federal lawsuits over its alleged role in the opioid epidemic. The Philadelphia-based company, and other pharmacy chains, have also struggled in the face of competition from Amazon and big-box chains like Walmart and Target.