The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Rite Aid Corp, accusing the pharmacy chain of illegally filling hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for controlled substances, including opioids, without recognizing "red flags". Vanita Gupta, Associate Attorney General, said that Rite Aid's pharmacists filled prescriptions with obvious red flags and intentionally deleted notes about suspicious prescribers. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department is using every tool to confront the opioid epidemic. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties and other relief to ensure Rite Aid complies with all applicable laws and regulations in the future.