Rite Aid Shakes Off Lawsuit Over ‘Maximum Strength’ Pain Patches

“Maximum strength” claims on over-the-counter pain relief patches don’t literally mean the highest dose of medication money can buy, a federal judge said in dismissing, for now, a false-ad suit against Rite Aid Corp.

Steven Prescott filed a proposed class suit in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, alleging that the labeling of “Maximum Strength Pain Relief Lidocaine Patches” with 4% lidocaine is deceptive because a consumer could get a doctor’s prescription for a 5% lidocaine patch.

Other courts have allowed similar claims to advance against other companies, but Judge Vince Chhabria said a reasonable ...