CVS pharmacies are on the hot seat for selling expired over-the-counter medications in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer, Brittany Talarico wrote on March 25th that the Philadelphia City Council is urging the city’s law department to take action against the drugstore chain for “repeatedly selling expired products.”
This has been a continuing problem for the drugstore giant. The State of New York sued CVS in December of 2008 for selling expired products and the State of California called for CVS to fix the problem of selling expired drugs in their Southern California locations. Also, in 2008, there was an issue with expired drugs found on CVS shelves in 2008 in the Boston area. Those incidents were documented in a Winchester Star article on December 24th.
The problem with retailers selling expired drugs is not uncommon. It really becomes an issue when retailers fail develop action plans to continuously review their inventory for expired products. I have written policy and procedures for retailers for just such a program. Follow through with the plan is crucial.
I wrote an earlier blog urging consumers to examine the packaging of their over-the-counter medicines. Make sure you also check the expiration date.
Curtis Baillie - Security Consulting Strategies, LLC
