Pubdate: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 Source: Charleston Daily Mail (WV) Copyright: 2003 Charleston Daily Mail Contact: http://www.dailymail.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/76 SUIT ALLEGES NARCOTICS LOST AT DEFUNCT CITY RITE AID Federal prosecutors in Charleston are suing Rite Aid because of allegations that its now-closed downtown Charleston pharmacy lost track of more than 20,000 narcotic pills. The suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court by Kasey Warner, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, says the drug chain's Capitol Street store committed 19 separate violations of federal law by failing to account for thousands of missing painkillers. A 1998 audit by the state Board of Pharmacy and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency alerted regulatory officials to the missing drugs. The government's suit said that the audit found that the store hadn't been keeping accurate records on its distribution of controlled substances such as Hydrocodone, Lorcet and Vicodin. The suit also accuses the Pennsylvania company of knowing of some of the problems in the pharmacy -- specifically a $20,000 shortfall -- since May 1997. Rite Aid did not return a phone call seeking comment. Warner's suit seeks civil penalties and attorney's fees. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin