RIVERSIDE (CNS) – A multi-million-dollar settlement reached between CVS Health Inc. and a dozen California counties — including Riverside — stemming from the sales of expired baby formula and other products will help keep the corporation on track with “making key enhancements” to policies and practices, CVS said Friday.

“CVS Pharmacy has a clear product removal policy in place to help ensure that items are pulled from shelves before reaching their expiration dates,” the company said in a statement released to City News Service. “Any unintentional deviations from this policy that are brought to our attention are quickly rectified.”

The chain, which operates more than 800 retail outlets statewide, said that after the legal action was initiated by the plaintiffs, CVS personnel intensified efforts to “ensure that expired products are not sold to customers.”

“We are pleased to have come to an agreement in California and are making key enhancements and investments in technology, audits and colleague education,” CVS stated.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office joined D.A.’s offices in Contra Costa, Fresno, Marin, Placer, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, San Joaquin, Shasta, Solano and Yolo counties in suing CVS and its subsidiaries for alleged violations of health and safety laws, which specifically prohibit selling infant formula, over-the-counter drugs and other digestible products after their expiration dates have been reached.

The civil action was adjudicated in Santa Cruz, and on Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Timothy Volkman certified a $6.5 million settlement between the Rhode Island-based corporation and the plaintiffs.

“CVS was cooperative and conducted internal checks for expired over- the-counter drugs, as well as infant formula and baby food, which were past their `use by’ dates at all their California retail locations,” the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Thursday.

“CVS further invested time and resources to create a program for verification of expiration dates and re-trained store personnel regarding checking the dates. The investigation did not discover any evidence that the sale of any expired products resulted in physical harm to consumers.”

As part of the settlement, CVS agreed to pay the $6.5 million in civil penalties and to offset counties’ investigative expenses, while setting aside an additional $1 million “to be dispersed to several charitable organizations serving Californians throughout a wide swath of the state,” the D.A.’s office said.

The sum that Riverside County is slated to receive under the settlement wasn’t specified.

CVS: `Pleased to Have Come to an Agreement’ with Riverside, Other Counties