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S'town pharmacies among those AG Cuomo says sold expired food
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|  | | By Arlene Gross | | |
June 20, 2008 | 12:41 PM
The state attorney general's office has issued a statement stating its plans to sue CVS and Rite Aid pharmacies for selling expired products in many of their locations.
Following a three-month undercover investigation of major drug store chains throughout New York, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office found what appears to be a pattern of selling outdated goods at 142 separate CVS and 112 Rite Aid stores. Cuomo accused both chains of selling milk, eggs, over-the-counter medicines and infant formula past their prime — some two years beyond their intended expiration dates.
"My ongoing investigation has uncovered a shameful disregard for public health in these stores…" Cuomo stated. "These companies allowed personal profit to get ahead of their customers' health."
In Suffolk County, eight CVS stores — including one at 134 Main Street in Smithtown as well as locations in Deer Park, East Northport, Greenlawn, Huntington Station and Northport — sold outdated baby formula, milk and eggs. Two Rite Aid stores — at 8 Veterans Highway in Commack and 1200 Deer Park Avenue in North Babylon — were charged with selling outdated infant formula.
Devin Cadolino, a supervisor of the Greenlawn store at 89 Broadway where undercover investigators purchased outdated Enfamil baby formula, said she was told not to comment to the media, as was Blayne, an assistant manager at the Northport store at 10 Fort Salonga Road who would not give her last name.
From corporate headquarters in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, CVS spokesman Mike DeAngelis stated, "We value the trust our customers have placed in us to sell them products that are safe and effective and the findings of New York's attorney general are unacceptable to us. We contacted the attorney general's office last week about their findings and are scheduled to discuss this matter with them this week."
"Our policy is to remove items before they go beyond the expiration date," DeAngelis continued. "In the event expired product is discovered, the proper procedure is to remove the item from the shelf immediately. We are working aggressively to ensure that our review and removal procedures are followed consistently in all of our stores."
In letters of "intention to sue" to CVS and Rite Aid's lawyers, Michael Berlin, who is deputy attorney general for economic justice, states that the Attorney General intends to commence litigation because the chains persistently violated both state and federal laws that are intended to protect the public from the sale of perishable foods, infant formula and over-the-counter medication.
The CVS chain was additionally cited for violating its 2003 settlement agreement with the attorney general's office, in which the corporation had assured the government that it would refrain from selling expired over-the-counter medications.
"This persistent and flagrant defiance of the settlement calls into question CVS's desire to alter its conduct," Berlin wrote in his June 12 missive. "This office… intends to seek a full range of penalties and sanctions in order to ensure that this time, a genuine change in CVS's behavior occurs."
Cheryl Slavinsky, a spokeswoman for Rite Aid, said the company takes the allegations very seriously.
"Our policies have always been not to have outdated products on our shelves," Slavinsky said of the Camp Hill, Penn.-based chain. "As soon as we received the letter, all stores mentioned in the letter to have had outdated products some time between March 28 and May 13 were told to make sure that there's no such product on the shelf now. We're also checking the products in all our stores nationwide and are retraining our stores on our policies and procedures regarding these matters."
"We honestly have very strict policies and procedures about removing product before its expiration date," she continued, "and so we're going back and retraining everyone on the importance of removing these, because it's certainly not our intention to sell outdated products."
Both companies have five business days from their receipt of the attorney general's letters, to respond in writing, showing why such legal proceedings should not go forth.
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