Confusion over prescription transfers as Rite Aid stores begin to close [View all]

Source: Scripps News

Posted 10:36 AM, Jul 26, 2025


This week, Brian Kuch, of Akron, New York, got a text message from CVS that said: "Your Rite Aid prescriptions have been securely transferred to CVS." However, Kuch said he transferred medications from Rite Aid to Walgreens months ago, after Rite Aid announced it was closing dozens of stores. In May, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Kuch said he never gave authorization to CVS to have his medication records.

"It's not against HIPAA," said Jon Vorreuter, co-owner of Clarence Pharmacy. "Even if records are sent to a store they don’t want to go to, they still have the option of where they want to go."

A CVS spokesperson said that they did purchase medication records from many Rite Aid stores across Western New York, but not the one in Akron that Kuch went to. The spokesperson said it could be that Kuch went to a different Rite Aid in the past, and that location had records acquired by CVS.

Meanwhile, some pharmacies like Vorreuter's are seeing a spike in business from former Rite Aid customers. He said he had to hire five to six new employees and add a second register just to keep up. The potential closure of additional Rite Aid stores could exacerbate U.S. access to prescriptions. According to a 2024 study published by Ohio State University, 46% of U.S. counties had a pharmacy desert.

Read more: https://www.scrippsnews.com/business/company-news/confusion-over-prescription-transfers-as-rite-aid-stores-begin-to-close

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My Rite Aid is supposed to close next week (July 30) and they had told me they sent my renewal scripts to the CVS that is less than a half a mile away (which I have gone to quite a bit in the past but not so much recently - they have a tiny parking lot as it is).

I found a locator thingy where you could put in your zip and see where your prescriptions were supposed to be transferred - https://www.riteaid.com/new-pharmacy-location