AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Ceremony Support, one of many nation’s largest pharmacy chains, has filed for chapter. The corporate is billions of {dollars} in debt and faces an avalanche of lawsuits linked to prescription opioids. NPR’s Brian Mann joins us now. Hey, Brian.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.

CHANG: So the factor is, in lots of communities, Ceremony Support is, like, the one pharmacy serving folks. So what is going on to occur to these shops?

MANN: Yeah, that is query. There are 2,100 of those shops nonetheless throughout 17 states. Ceremony Support has already closed about 200 areas, and executives say they’re now scrambling to avoid wasting as most of the remaining shops as they’ll, however extra are sure to shut. Throughout a court docket listening to this afternoon in new Jersey, the corporate’s legal professionals acknowledged that if this chapter course of does not go easily and rapidly, it may power your entire chain to shut.

CHANG: OK. Nicely, inform us extra about how Ceremony Support obtained into a lot monetary hassle.

MANN: Nicely, the pharmacy enterprise is simply actually cutthroat. Ceremony Support is up towards massive gamers like CVS and Walgreens and Walmart. And more and more, they’re additionally up towards Amazon for merchandise like shampoo and nutritional vitamins, so Ceremony Support’s gross sales have slumped. Executives now say they’re roughly $3.3 billion in debt. And as you talked about, Ailsa, they’re going through this avalanche of opioid lawsuits.

CHANG: Yeah. Remind us concerning the function that Ceremony Support performed in all of that, within the opioid disaster.

MANN: Yeah. The corporate bought a whole lot of extremely addictive and actually worthwhile opioid ache tablets prescribed by docs. After all, they weren’t alone on this. All of the pharmacy chains made massive cash promoting opioids. Most have reached settlements, agreeing to pay billions of {dollars} in compensation. Ceremony Support hasn’t managed to work out that sort of deal. And so there are nonetheless greater than a thousand of those lawsuits. And earlier this yr, the Justice Division filed a brand new federal lawsuit towards the corporate. Ceremony Support denies any wrongdoing. And now with this chapter, it is not clear whether or not individuals who say they have been harmed by Ceremony Support’s conduct – it is unclear whether or not they’ll get any compensation.

CHANG: And Ceremony Support is not the primary firm that is filed for Chapter 11 associated to the opioid disaster, proper?

MANN: Yeah. That is proper. The entire business has been hit by this. Ceremony Support is the primary pharmacy chain to file for chapter. However we have seen a bunch of different drug corporations compelled to reorganize Purdue Pharma. After all, they’re in chapter. The drug makers Endo and Insys and Mallinckrodt – they’ve all sought Chapter 11 safety.

CHANG: Nicely, as vital as these bankruptcies are, we simply cannot speak concerning the opioid disaster with out speaking concerning the hundreds of thousands of individuals affected by it throughout the nation. So the place do issues stand now on that entrance?

MANN: Nicely, I’ve to say issues are getting worse. The newest knowledge from the facilities for Illness Management and Prevention discovered greater than 112,000 drug deaths within the newest 12-month interval right here within the U.S. It is the best toll of deadly overdoses ever. The large offender now could be avenue fentanyl, the artificial opioid produced by the Mexican drug cartels. Nevertheless it’s essential to say the U.S. medical business remains to be prescribing vastly extra ache tablets than different international locations. These medicines are nonetheless killing a whole lot of Individuals – almost 17,000 deadly overdoses from prescription tablets yearly. In suing Ceremony Support earlier this yr, Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland issued a press release saying the Justice Division plans to carry corporations accountable for the opioid epidemic that is killing Individuals.

CHANG: Nicely, with respect to Ceremony Support, what occurs subsequent for the corporate?

MANN: Nicely, once more, the attorneys say they’ve to maneuver quick by Chapter 11 if any a part of the corporate is to outlive. And, as you talked about, these pharmacies present important companies for lots of neighborhoods, about 45,000 jobs on the road – so lots at stake over the following few months as this chapter strikes ahead.

CHANG: That’s NPR’s Brian Mann. Thanks a lot, Brian.

MANN: Thanks.

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