Pa. Attorney General Announces $450,000 Settlement With CVS Over Expired Products
DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) -- The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office has reached a $450,000 consumer protection settlement with CVS after a compliance check revealed expired products were being sold in its stores within the state.
Authorities say the settlement comes after the drugstore chain violated a 2010 agreement in which it voluntarily complied to ensure stores were not selling expired products. Agents from the Attorney General's Health Care Section say CVS violated the agreement after they found expired infant formula and OTC medications for children were being sold at 5 of the 6 stores they visited.
In two cases, CVS employees allegedly bypassed a prompt in its register system that's designed to prohibit sales of expired items.
The settlement requires CVS to provide customers with a $3.50 coupon if they find an expired product in any of its stores in Pennsylvania.
In addition, the Attorney General's Office says the company must have an effective policy in place regarding expired product procedures and that employees who stock dairy products, baby foods, infant formulas and OTC drugs complete annual training.
The settlement was filed today in Dauphin County.
CVS has released a statement regarding today's settlement:
"CVS/pharmacy makes every effort to ensure that expired products are not sold to customers and we have a clear product removal policy and procedures in place at all of our stores to help ensure that items are removed from store shelves before they reach their expiration dates. Any unintentional deviations from this policy that are brought to the company's attention are quickly rectified for customers.
Our agreement with the State of Pennsylvania resolves allegations that a limited number of our stores were found to be non-compliant with the previous agreement between CVS and Pennsylvania. The agreement also commits CVS/pharmacy to continue our existing product removal and monitoring practices, employee training program, and the offering of enhanced discount coupons to customers who notify store employees if they discover certain expired products, among other things.
The Company has not admitted any liability or wrongdoing, and has entered into this agreement to avoid unnecessary expense, inconvenience or uncertainty of further investigation or legal proceedings."
