When Mexico banned the sale of pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in methamphetamine, in 2007, drug rings turned to the nation’s largest retail pharmacy chain, CVS, for help. Unlike other drug outlets, CVS allowed customers to make multiple purchases that exceeded the federal daily and monthly limits. The company, thanks to its lax procedures for tracking sales of Sudafed and other cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine, became a silent supplier to meth manufacturing operations, primarily in Southern California, but also in at least 19 other states around the country.

 

For selling large quantities of the decongestant in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, CVS agreed to pay $77.6 million, the biggest civil penalty in the history of federal anti-drug laws, according to the U.S. Attorneys’ office in Los Angeles, which imposed the fine.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

CVS Fined $77.6M for Selling Meth Ingredient (by Allan Lengel, AOL News)