CVS to Pay $500K Settlement for Elevated Store Temperatures

Continuing pharmacy operations during air conditioning outages have caused CVS to pay New Jersey more than $500,000 as part of a settlement, according to The Associated Press (AP).

The money is due to New Jersey to protect consumers from buying medications and other items that may not have been exposed to elevated temperatures for long periods of time, the AP reported.

CVS pharmacies in 2 New Jersey towns experienced outages in 2012 for several days. Instead of quarantining the products and notifying customers, the stores in Scotch Plains and Clark kept operating, even though inside temperatures became too hot for the storage of some medications, according to the AP.

A lack of air conditioning means some of those drugs may have lost their effectiveness. However, no injuries or illnesses from the 2012 incidents have been reported, according to the AP.

The AP noted some CVS pharmacies are using web-accessible systems to monitor temperature changes for instances such as this.