CVS reaches $6.5 million settlement with 12 California counties over sales of expired products

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (CNS) -- CVS Inc. reached a multimillion dollar settlement with Riverside and other counties statewide stemming from the sales of expired baby formula and other products left on shelves beyond their sell-by dates, it was announced Thursday.

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office joined D.A.'s offices in Contra Costa, Fresno, Marin, Placer, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, San Joaquin, Shasta, Solano and Yolo counties in suing CVS and its subsidiaries for alleged violations of health and safety laws, which specifically prohibit selling infant formula, over-the-counter drugs and other digestible products after their expiration dates have been reached.

The civil action was adjudicated in Santa Cruz, and on Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Timothy Volkman certified a $6.5 million settlement between the Rhode Island-based corporation and the plaintiffs.

"CVS was cooperative and conducted internal checks for expired over- the-counter drugs, as well as infant formula and baby food, which were past their use by' dates at all their California retail locations," the Riverside County District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

"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."

The career skills lab, which was donated to the Riverside Unified School District by CVS Health, first opened in 2015, but relaunched with brand new renovations this year.

CVS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The chain operates more than 800 retail outlets statewide.

As part of the settlement, CVS agreed to pay $6.5 million in civil penalties and to offset counties' investigative expenses, while setting aside an additional $1 million "to be dispersed to several charitable organizations serving Californians throughout a wide swath of the state," the D.A.'s office stated.

The sum that Riverside County is slated to receive under the settlement was not specified.

Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.