Using phrases more familiar to a war crimes prosecutor at The Hague than a bankruptcy case, lawyers for Rite Aid are attempting to vilify medicine supplier McKesson Corp. as they seek an order forcing the drug distributor to continue supplying the chain’s 2,100 stores in 17 states.

The defendant will cause “human pain and suffering” and “put millions of lives at risk,” Rite Aid’s legal team with Kirkland & Ellis wrote in a 17-page lawsuit filed Monday, one day after the Philadelphia-based pharmacy giant sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey.