Photo Courtesy of DEA
“Rite Aid’s disregard to compliance made it personal to us,” said DEA New York Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan.
By Forum Staff
The retail drugstore chain Rite Aid will pay federal authorities a $4.75 million penalty to resolve allegations that its employees recorded false or incomplete information about customers who purchased tens of thousands of products containing pseudoephedrine, an ingredient found in many cough and cold medicines that is used by some to illegally manufacture crystal meth, prosecutors recently announced.
In order to prevent the illicit use of pseudoephedrine, the Controlled Substances Act requires Rite Aid and other retail sellers to create and maintain a logbook that contains, among other things, the name and address of each the customer who makes a purchase of a pseudoephedrine product. In the settlement agreement, Rite Aid admitted that, between August 2009 and January 2014, certain employees entered into Rite Aid’s logbook inaccurate or incomplete name and address information for customers. Investigators alleged that this misconduct occurred in connection with tens of thousands of sales during that time period. Shortly after prosecutors brought these violations to Rite Aid’s attention, the company voluntarily devised and implemented a number of enhancements to its process for sales of pseudoephedrine products to better ensure Rite Aid’s compliance with federal law.
“Companies that do not comply with the Controlled Substances Act are violating the law,” said Drug Enforcement Administration NY Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan. “Regulatory laws are put in place for a reason—to ensure public health and safety. Companies that turn a blind eye to regulations concerning the purchase of products containing pseudoephedrine enable illicit methamphetamine production. Rite Aid’s disregard to compliance made it personal to us—whose job it is to save lives.”
