CVS ordered to pay $7.5 million to settle claims it sold expired medicine and baby food in California
CVS, an American retail company, will have to pay a $7.5 million settlement in California over claims it sold expired baby food and medications.
Prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against CVS in Santa Cruz County Superior Court for allegedly selling baby food, over-the-counter medicines and infant formula beyond its ‘use-by’ date.
A judge last week ordered CVS to cough up $6.5 million in civil penalties and investigative costs, and 27 counties will receive fines between $12,500 and $475,000.
Last year, a baby formula shortage in America led to the FDA warning that expired products were unsafe to use.
After it was made aware of the issue, CVS looked for outdated goods at its stores in California and retrained employees about rotating expired products
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strongly advises against using expired medicines as they can be less effective or dangerous because of a change in chemical composition or a decline in strength
Investigators found no evidence of harm to customers due to expired products.
CVS must also pay one million dollars in compensation, but because it was deemed impossible to identify which customers bought the products, the sum will go to nonprofit organizations.
These include a public health charity in Oakland, a homelessness nonprofit in Santa Monica and food banks in Fresno and Stockton.
After it was made aware of the issue, CVS looked for outdated goods at its stores in California and retrained employees about rotating expired products.
The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement: ‘CVS was cooperative and conducted internal checks for expired over-the-counter drugs, infant formula and baby food, which were past their use-by dates at all their California retail locations.
‘CVS further invested time and resources to create a program for verification of expiration dates and re-trained store personnel regarding checking the dates.
‘The investigation did not discover any evidence that the sale of any expired products resulted in physical harm to consumers.’
CVS, in a statement released to City News Service in Southern California, said its leaders are ‘pleased to have come to an agreement in California and are making key enhancements and investments in technology, audits and colleague education’.
It added: ‘CVS Pharmacy has a clear product removal policy in place to help ensure that items are pulled from shelves before reaching their expiration dates.
‘Any unintentional deviations from this policy that are brought to our attention are quickly rectified.’
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strongly advises against using expired medicines as they can be less effective or dangerous because of a change in chemical composition or a decline in strength.
Some outdated medications are even susceptible to bacterial growth.
The FDA website warns: ‘Once the expiration date has passed, there is no guarantee that the medicine will be safe and effective. If your medicine has expired, do not use it.’
With baby food, the nutrients in the formula will start to degrade after the expiration date.
Similarly, baby formula is not made to last forever, and bacteria can start to grow over time.
The FDA said the use-by date is ‘the date up to which the manufacturer guarantees the nutrient content and the quality of the formula.
‘After this date, a package or container of infant formula should not be fed to infants.’
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