CVS Fined $7.5 Million for Selling Expired Products in California

A Cal­i­for­nia judge has ordered phar­ma­cy giant CVS to pay $7.5 mil­lion in penal­ties for ille­gal­ly sell­ing expired over-the-counter drugs, baby food and infant for­mu­la beyond their “use by” dates at CVS stores across the state.

The rul­ing stems from a civ­il law­suit filed by pros­e­cu­tors against CVS in San­ta Cruz Coun­ty Supe­ri­or Court. CVS has been ordered to pay $6.5 mil­lion in civ­il penal­ties and inves­tiga­tive costs, with indi­vid­ual coun­ties receiv­ing fines from $12,500 to $475,000.

CVS must also pay $1 mil­lion in resti­tu­tion that will go to non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions to ben­e­fit Cal­i­for­nia res­i­dents. The funds will go to orga­ni­za­tions focused on pub­lic health, home­less­ness assis­tance and food insecurity.

Author­i­ties allege that CVS know­ing­ly sold expired prod­ucts to cus­tomers for years. While no cus­tomers were phys­i­cal­ly harmed, expired med­ica­tions and baby food pose seri­ous health risks, includ­ing loss of effec­tive­ness, bac­te­r­i­al growth and unsafe chem­i­cal changes.

CVS claims it has poli­cies in place to pre­vent expired prod­ucts from being sold, but said any vio­la­tions were unin­ten­tion­al. After being con­tact­ed by author­i­ties, CVS removed expired prod­ucts from its Cal­i­for­nia stores and pro­vid­ed retrain­ing to employ­ees about expi­ra­tion dates.

The rul­ing against CVS serves as a warn­ing to all retail­ers that the ille­gal sale of expired prod­ucts will not be tol­er­at­ed in Cal­i­for­nia. Con­sumers deserve assur­ance that the prod­ucts they pur­chase, espe­cial­ly sen­si­tive items like med­ica­tions and baby food, are safe and effective.