CVS settles latest complaint over expired products
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By Paul Grimaldi CVS Caremark Corp., of Woonsocket, has agreed to pay nearly $1 million to the state of California to settle allegations that it sold expired products in that state. In addition to the fine, customers who find expired merchandise at CVS stores in California can get $2 store coupons, part of a settlement reached Wednesday with the state's attorney general. The announcement follows complaints raised in Rhode Island and other states about the drugstore chain's inventory and sales practices. The agreement announced this week in California stemmed from a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. against CVS Caremark Corp., which operates stores in that state under the CVS and Longs Drug Stores names. A state investigation launched in March 2008 found that the pharmacy chain violated state codes by "routinely" selling expired baby food and formula, over-the-counter medications and dairy products. Some were 11 months past their expiration dates. "CVS Pharmacy routinely sold expired baby formula, over-the-counter medication and dairy products long after the expiration date," Brown said in a statement. The agreement also applies to Longs Drugs stores in California, which were bought by CVS Caremark Corp. in 2008. The coupon agreement awards $2 store coupons that can be used at any California CVS or Longs store for any merchandise. CVS also agreed to twice-monthly checks on infant and baby food, eggs, dairy products and over-the-counter medications; proper shredding of confidential documents; and payment of $975,000 in penalties. California investigators also found that CVS employees were leaving documents and prescription bottles that contained personal information in trash bins outside the stores. Under the settlement, CVS agreed to ensure that prescription information is disposed of properly. The company said no customers were harmed and it was settling only to save time and expense. 
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Gee,
How come the state isn't all over them the way they are chasing that little pharmacist in coventry?
Oh yeah...big chain, big money...big contributions. I forgot.
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Products are routinely out of date at my local CVS - offering a $2 coupon for expired baby products doesn't seem to really serve the consumer, as much as it served the attorneys who settled this case....with such legal entanglements, why aren't stores for vigilant?
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Ya gotta LOVE the comment by CVS "... no customers were harmed and it was settling only to save time and expense." Like they would really know... or Care!
As we have found over the years, the #1 excuse used by mostly large businesses when being found guilty is the 'admit no guilt, we're just paying the fines and penalties to save time and money.'
We as consumers should adopt our own definition and let companies know what it is...
When the business pays fines and penalties for wrongdoing, WE DETERMINE THAT THEY ARE GUILTY OF THE CHARGES AND COMPLAINTS, as are the owners/operators, CEOs, CFOs (and the rest of the corporate alphabet soup!
If they don't think they are guilty as charged, fight it all the way through!
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CVS....maybe this company should reveal the average wage of their largely part-time female employees...and the benefits they offer their employees. I doubt they are any better than Walmart. Disgusting corporate greed.
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[Oceanside, CA]
I was always finding expired products. I would turn those items in when found. Later, I would find them back on the shelf. Didn't know it included baby food. Not quite the same, but China killed babies with tainted formula that came from a greedy manufacturer. Glad CVS was finally nailed on this.
Albertsons was caught for the same thing a few years back. Then they were also caught for excessive number of price differences between the shelf and the register. Then they were caught for padding the weight of meat through use of certain packaging material and ice.
I say nail the people in charge. Force them to lose the money they earn. Forget criminal prosecution - hit their wages. Until you make them feel it personally, they will not stop. Pass laws that hold those in charge also civilally liable. Their bonuses are seized, compensation frozen at current level for a period of time and no allowances possible for the company to make up their loss. They will never take it seriously until they are forced to feel the pain of punishment as well.
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The problem with CVS is their Inventory Management system. Have you been to a CVS lately? See how much merchandise is left overnight on the sales floor in totes and boxes, unworked. Their inventory management process seems complicated, and involves a lot of manpower. With over 100k products on the shelves, 2 deliveries a week in some stores and small backrooms, the rotation of producs from the backrooms are sometimes impossible, so they become expired. Those expired products eventually make their way to the shelves. It is a lot a merchandise to move around. So employess just focus on filling the shealves, because there is no time to rotate product. What CVS needs to do is stop being so greedy and start thinking obout the safety of their customers rather than sales, sales, sales. They are biting off more than they can chew.
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The problem with CVS is their Inventory Management system. Have you been to a CVS lately? See how much merchandise is left overnight on the sales floor in totes and boxes, unworked. Their inventory management process seems complicated, and involves a lot of manpower. With over 100k products on the shelves, 2 deliveries a week in some stores and small backrooms, the rotation of producs from the backrooms are sometimes impossible, so they become expired. Those expired products eventually make their way to the shelves. It is a lot a merchandise to move around. So employess just focus on filling the shealves, because there is no time to rotate product. What CVS needs to do is stop being so greedy and start thinking obout the safety of their customers rather than sales, sales, sales. They are biting off more than they can chew.
Report Abuse