CVS, meth dealer: mandatory 'overcompliance'.

• Author: Balko, Radley
• Position: Citings - CVS Pharmacy - Brief article

IN OCTOBER, CVS Pharmacy agreed to a $75 million fine for its purported contributions to the illicit methamphetamine trade. It is the largest civil penalty ever assessed for a violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. "This case shows what happens when companies fail to follow their ethical and legal responsibilities," U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. told the Associated Press.

Sounds damning. You'd think CVS employees were shipping meth in company trucks or cooking the stuff up in the drugstore chain's bathrooms. In fact, CVS's offense was being insufficiently suspicious of its customers when they purchased cold or allergy medicine containing pseudoephedrine, an ingredient also used to make meth.

The case against CVS reflects the federal government's increasing reliance on private actors to enforce America's vice laws. It also demonstrates the feds' eagerness to prosecute companies that don't...