CVS Pharmacy to pay New Jersey more than $500K to settle claims over high store temperatures

CVS Pharmacy will pay New Jersey more than $500,000 as part of a settlement to protect consumers from buying medications and other items exposed to elevated temperatures for prolonged periods of time.

Acting state Attorney General John Hoffman announced the agreement Wednesday.

It follows two separate 2012 incidents in which CVS pharmacies in Scotch Plains and Clark experienced air conditioning outages for multiple days. The stores kept operating after inside temperatures exceeded the maximum recommended for the storage of drugs and other items for extended periods of time.

Certain medications may lose effectiveness if exposed to elevated temperatures for prolonged periods. No injuries or illnesses resulting from the 2012 incidents have been reported.

Among other things, Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS is converting its New Jersey stores to web-accessible or other systems to monitor and report on temperatures.