Reuters reports Rite Aid Corp. will pay $4 million to resolve a criminal probe by the US Department of Justice related to “the improper sale of pseudoephedrine, an ingredient often used to make the stimulant methamphetamine.” Rite Aid has “accepted responsibility for improper pseudoephedrine sales in West Virginia from January 2009 to October 2012, and taken steps to prevent abuse, according to U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart in Charleston, West Virginia.” The allegations center on “claims that Rite Aid’s training and procedures led employees in West Virginia to believe they could refuse to sell pseudoephedrine only if they thought customers were exceeding specified purchase limits, not if they thought customers wanted to make methamphetamine.”
The AP (1/24) reports US Attorney Mike Stuart “said the company’s policies led employees in the district to believe they could only deny a pseudoephedrine sale if it would cause a customer to exceed a purchase limit amount, and not if the customer was suspected of wanting the drug for an illegitimate reason, such as the manufacture of meth.” Stuart is quoted saying, “This settlement sends a strong message to businesses that we will not tolerate putting sales over safety.”
