CVS, N.Y. settle over expired products
ATLANTA - CVS Caremark Corp., the operator of more than 7,000 US drugstores, has agreed to settle a lawsuit with New York’s attorney general for $875,000 over the sale of expired eggs, milk, baby formula, and over-the-counter drugs.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office investigated all major drugstore chains operating in New York and said it found an “egregious pattern’’ in two, CVS and Rite Aid Corp. Investigators said they found some items were still on shelves more than two years past their expiration dates. CVS operates about 432 stores in the state, according to Cuomo’s office.
As part of the settlement, CVS will check its stores for expired products and pay a $2,500 fine for any store that fails a check, Cuomo said yesterday. Rite Aid, which operated about 710 stores in New York, settled for up to $1.3 million last December. Cuomo said his office found expired goods in 60 percent of the CVS stores it visited and in 43 percent of the Rite Aid locations.
CVS said in a prepared statement that it would strengthen monitoring of expiration dates and post notices in stores to remind customers to check dates.
In 2003, Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS resolved an investigation by New York that revealed the chain sold over-the-counter drugs after their expiration dates, Cuomo said. The company agreed to stop selling expired drugs and implement safeguards for the future.
