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Rite Aid stocks shelves with expired goods – State attorney general cites Brooklyn chain stores

There’s something rotten going on at your local Rite Aid store.

Expired medications were found at two of the chain pharmacies in downtown Brooklyn, according to a sweeping “expired product survey” conducted by the State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office.

The survey, which began in March, discovered that 142 CVS stores and 112 Rite Aid stores throughout the country were selling expired products.

Items included medications, milk, eggs and baby formula, officials said.

The startling results have caused Cuomo to take legal action against the two popular chains.

“We have uncovered a shameful disregard for public health in these stores,” Cuomo said. “Families across New York State buy products from these establishments assuming that they’re coming from a safe, reputable source. However, when the products pass their expiration dates, they become ineffective and potentially unsafe, threatening to put our loved ones at risk.”

While some of the chain stores stocked their shelves with rotten eggs and spoiled milk, the stores in downtown Brooklyn received a clean bill of health – almost.

Officials conducting the survey said that they found expired bottles of Excedrin PM and Tylenol Allergy caps at the Rite Aid at 120 Court Street near Atlantic Avenue.

An expired bottle of Rite Aid brand cold medicine was also found in the chain store at 182 Smith Street at Warren Street.

Additionally, an expired bottle of Children’s Lactose Intolerance Aid was found at a CVS store at 156 Henry Street near Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights. Expired bottles of Mylicon Children’s Gas relief and CVS brand Maximum Flu Relief were found at the chain store at 395 Court Street at 1st Place in Carroll Gardens.

Investigators said that some of the medications they found in Brooklyn had been expired for over a month. Other medications had been expired for at least seven months.

When alerted to the survey, officials at CVS and Rite Aid sent word to restock their shelves.

“We’re making sure that there is no such product on the shelf now,” Cheryl Slavinsky, director of public relations for Rite Aid. “We take these allegations very seriously. Our policies have always been not to have outdated products on our shelves.