CVS Store Brand Drugs Have Faced 100s Of Recalls: Report

WOONSOCKET, RI — CVS-brand drugs are recalled two to three times more often than those of the company's competitors — and FDA inspectors have found some of the drugs to be made in facilities with unsanitary conditions, according to a Bloomberg report published last week.

CVS has hired at least 15 manufacturers over the last decade and has seen 133 recalls of its store brand drugs, Bloomberg reported. These recalls include children's pain medication with contaminated water, drugs for kids that were 'too potent,' and nasal sprays for babies that were potentially exposed to pesticides, the report said.

Read the full report in Bloomberg.

CVS Health shared the following statement with Patch Monday afternoon:

CVS Pharmacy’s store brands are designed to maximize quality and safety, work as intended, comply with regulations, and satisfy customers. We offer customers more than 2,000 CVS store brand health and wellness products (categories include OTC medications, first aid, vitamins, and supplements) in a large variety of concentrations, sizes, and flavors, yet our store brand OTC product recalls represent fewer than 1% of FDA drug recalls over the past decade.

We work with manufacturers and regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, to ensure all quality and safety standards are met or exceeded. When choosing suppliers, our priority is identifying those with good manufacturing and ethical sourcing practices and the ability to meet our strict standards and testing practices. A certified third-party auditor performs annual on-site FDA based good manufacturing audits of all suppliers that make CVS Health brand products.

We also have a robust product testing program and conduct an average of 350 tests a day to help ensure the safety, efficacy, performance, and compliance of our store brand products.

While our goal is to have no recalls, we believe our proactive and ongoing testing, in addition to the breadth of our store brand health care products, contribute to the number of recalls.