CVS Caremark Corp., which runs over 7,000 drug stores in the United States, was accused by the state of Connecticut of selling <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/practice_areas/defective_drugs">expired over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and other products, said Boston.com. The accusation was announced just after CVS Caremark settled a similar case with the state of New York, Boston.com added.
Last year we wrote that CVS Caremark Corporation was sued by the State of New York over sales of expired products. That announcement was made on the same day that New York also announced settlement of claims against Rite Aid Corporation totaling about $1.3 million, Bloomberg News reported previously.
At the time we wrote that officials with New York state accused CVS of selling products with expiration dates going back two years. This, following a state investigation in which expired products were found at the majority—60 percent—of New York CVS stores and 43 percent of Rite Aid stores, said Bloomberg News. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a statement then that, “In today’s difficult economic times, consumers should not be spending their hard-earned money on expired products that may be harmful to themselves or their children,†reported Bloomberg News. In the lawsuit against CVS, Cuomo said by selling expired products, CVS was in violation of New York’s Executive Law, New York’s General Business Law, and federal and local laws.
Last year, a study conducted by the group Change to Win, found that CVS’s expired goods problems and poor health inspections went beyond New York state, noting that Cuomo filed suit against the drugstore chain after learning expired products remained on CVS shelves nearly six months after the Attorney General first threatened action. Change to Win pointed out that CVS was found to be selling expired medicines, infant formula, milk, and eggs and that Cuomo’s findings came at the same time that Change to Win’s study of CVS stores in 10 markets nationwide was released. Said Change to Win, CVS’s ongoing practice of selling expired products violates the retailer’s 2003 agreement with Cuomo to not sell expired nonprescription medicines. In the 2003 investigation, noted Bloomberg News, previously, CVS was found to have been selling OTC medications after their expiration dates; CVS agreed to put in place safeguards to ensure the practice did not occur in the future.
Now, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said that an investigation conducted in that state discovered at least 20 stores in Connecticut selling items past their expiration dates, “including baby formula, energy drinks, cough and allergy medicines, and dairy products,†said Boston.com.
According to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, he and CVS reached a settlement of $875,000 regarding the sale of expired products, reported Boston.com.
A spokeswoman for Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS, said:
Meanwhile, last year, California Attorney General Jerry Brown also accused CVS of selling expired baby food and OTC drugs, said Bloomberg News, adding that according to Cuomo’s suit, Pennsylvania’s Fairfield Department of Health in Pennsylvania discovered 100 expired baby food items at six CVS stores.
