By Jeff Lipton
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he initiated a statewide investigation in March of drug store chains, and the "most egregious patterns" of outdated products emerged at CVS and Rite Aid, where items such as baby formula, medicine, milk and eggs were sold past their shelf lives - and in some cases were expired for more than a year.
Locally, the list included three stores in North Bellmore, two each in Baldwin, Franklin Square and Rockville Centre and one each in Elmont, Merrick and Valley Stream.
Leading the list of violators was CVS at 2660 Jerusalem Ave. in North Bellmore, with 19 outdated products sold to undercover investigators on March 26 including 17 Similac baby formula products with an expiration date of Sept. 1, 2007, Cuomo's office said. That was followed by CVS at 1 E. Merrick Road in Valley Stream, which sold 15 expired items, including milk and children's pain relief.
The next worst were CVS at 1797 Dutch Broadway in Elmont, with nine outdated products, and CVS at 1829 Grand Ave. in Baldwin, with eight.
"My ongoing investigation has uncovered a shameful disregard for public health in these stores," said Cuomo. "Families across New
York State buy products from these establishments assuming that they're coming from a safe, reputable source. However, when the products pass their expiration dates, they become ineffective and potentially unsafe, threatening to put our loved ones at risk. These companies allowed personal profit to get ahead of their customers' health. I am committed to protecting New York consumers and we will continue to investigate this troubling practice."
The attorney general said he will take legal action against the two drug store chains, seeking unspecified fines, restitution and possibly other penalties.
Statewide, the attorney general's investigation has so far uncovered 142 CVS and 112 Rite Aid stores in more than 41 counties that sold expired products, reflecting 60 percent of the CVS stores his investigators visited and 43 percent of the Rite Aid stores they visited.
At these locations, undercover investigators were able to purchase more than 600 expired products, Cuomo said.
Cuomo said that because they failed "to remove potentially dangerous products" from their shelves, he has sent a five-day notice letter, as required by statute, notifying both CVS and Rite Aid of the intent to begin legal action against them.
"But our priority is getting the [expired] products off the shelves and to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Cuomo spokesman Matt Glazer.
State officials said that an expired product such as allergy medicine could pose a danger to consumers if they have an allergy attack and try to combat it with ineffective medication.
Managers at several of the individual stores contacted said that corporate policy prevented them from making a statement and referred calls to their headquarters.
"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," said CVS spokesman Mike DeAngelis. "We contacted the attorney general's office last week about their findings in order to discuss this matter. Our policy is to remove items before they go beyond the expiration date. 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."
"We take the allegations in the New York attorney general's office very seriously," said Cheryl Slavinsky, a spokeswoman for Rite Aid. "Our policies have always been not to have outdated products on our shelves. We have asked all New York stores and, in fact, all stores nationwide, to recheck their stock and make sure there are no out-of-date products on their shelves. We are also retraining all of our stores on policies and procedures regarding these matters. We are fully cooperating with the attorney general's office."
Comments about this story? Jlipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
