Blog Archives

Subscribe to our blog feed

Join the cause on Facebook

Popular Tags

Results tagged “legislation”

Results Page:

Victory in Philadelphia: Expired Goods Bill Becomes Law

phila-expired-graphic.gifPhiladelphia Mayor Michael Nutter recently signed into law (PDF) a bill prohibiting the sale of expired non-prescription drugs, infant formula, baby food, milk, milk products and eggs within Philadelphia. Many thanks to the Cure CVS coalition members who made this victory possible!

Cure CVS initially found outdated products at CVS stores in Philadelphia in late 2008, and revisited stores in early 2009 (PDF). As late as May of this year, CVS was still selling expired goods in its Philadelphia stores, despite citations from state inspectors and complaints from consumers.

The new law is a fantastic step forward for consumers in Philadelphia, but CVS stores are selling expired goods in stores all over the country, not just in Pennsylvania. In hopes of ending this practice nationwide, Cure CVS sent letters to the Attorneys General of 39 states and the District of Columbia, asking that CVS be investigated for selling expired goods.

Click here to read about your state.

These incidents aren't isolated: our investigation found evidence that CVS has a pattern of selling expired products. If you find an expired item on the shelf of your local CVS store, let us know about it: upload your photos of expired products found at CVS stores.

Posted by Alex G. on September 17, 2009 11:05 AM

Massachusetts Consumers Need Protection from Retail Overcharging

overcharged-poster.jpgRepresentatives from Cure CVS testified today before a Massachusetts state senate joint committee hearing, urging elected leaders to uphold the state's item pricing laws. Multiple bills are under consideration by the legislature, and revisions could weaken item pricing laws which currently require food and grocery retailers to sell any item in the store at the lowest price indicated on an item, sign or advertisement. Revisions to the laws could restrict the state's power to protect consumers from retailers that overcharge.

CVS Caremark Corp., the nation's largest pharmacy chain, is by far the most penalized food retailer in the state for overcharging and other pricing violations, according to Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. And the overcharges aren't always just an oversight: some Boston-area CVS stores are still overcharging, even after being notified of specific pricing violations.

"CVS gives us hundreds of reasons why lawmakers need to keep our state's item pricing laws intact," Faron McLurkin of Cure CVS said at today's hearing before the state senate. "Seven hundred and eleven reasons, to be precise. That's the number of overcharges state inspectors found at CVS last year."

Overcharges at CVS increased 67 percent from 2007 to 2008, indicating that CVS has failed to correct prior violations of state item pricing laws. On average, state inspectors found almost five times more overcharges per inspection at CVS stores than at all other retailers in the state.

Although CVS stores made up only 6.6 percent of all state pricing inspections in 2008, CVS's violations accounted for 32 percent of all overcharges caught by the state that year. That's almost one third of all the overcharges inspectors found in Massachusetts. Massachusetts Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Undersecretary Barbara Anthony has ordered CVS to correct its illegal overcharging problems.

To learn more about CVS's pricing violations in Massachusetts, download a copy of Cure CVS's report Your Total Comes To More than the Advertised Price: How CVS Hasn't Fixed Its Pricing Violation Problems in Massachusetts (PDF).

Posted by Alex G. on July 27, 2009 2:01 PM

New Report: How CVS Still Hasn't Fixed its Pricing Problem in Massachusetts

more-than-the-advertised-price.gifAfter news emerged in April that Boston CVS stores were overcharging their customers, consumers might have expected change from the retail pharmacy giant. But new surveys conducted this month reveal that eight out of ten Boston-area CVS stores surveyed have failed to correct overcharges, even after being notified of the errors.

Surveyors went back to some of the same CVS stores where they were overcharged two months ago and found in many cases that CVS had still not corrected the problem. Surveyors were again overcharged on the same items.

CVS Caremark Corp. is by far the most penalized food retailer in the state for overcharging and other pricing violations, according to the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. There are multiple bills currently under consideration by the state legislature that would weaken item pricing laws, thus giving the state less power to protect consumers from overcharging at retail stores.

Boston City Councilmember Sam Yoon called on CVS to stop overcharging its customers and introduced a City Council resolution today to oppose all proposed state legislation that would weaken item pricing laws.

"People are struggling to make ends meet in this economy, and we need to ensure that consumers are being protected and that the laws of the commonwealth are respected and enforced," Councilmember Yoon said. "Still, there are attempts to water down the existing laws in this area. This week, I am filing a resolution that opposes the pending legislation in the State House to weaken consumer protection laws, and I call on my colleagues in the City Council to join me in this act."

Click here to download the full findings of our recent report, "Your Total Is...More Than The Advertised Price."

Posted by Alex G. on June 18, 2009 1:07 PM

Jump to page:

1