CVS pharmacy is the largest retail pharmacy chain in America. The company was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts by a man named Semon Kresge, and it has been around since 1879.
At this point there are 8500 stores nationwide and they employ over 185000 people. CVS also owns many other businesses including Longs Drugs as well as their own insurance company called Caremark Rx Incorporated which provides prescription coverage to those who have Medicare Part D or Medicaid. They’ve been recognized as one of Fortune 500 companies for several years now and as such have made efforts to reduce energy consumption at their stores across the country with eco-friendly products like wind turbines and solar panels.
In 2012 CVS donated $3 million to the Susan G Komen foundation for breast cancer research and education. The company has long been associated with health care and well-being, but recently they’ve made headlines for a different reason: controversy over what many consider to be deceptive marketing practices.
A recent story released by Bloomberg news suggested that CVS was placing pharmacies in the front of their stores and erecting tanning beds towards the back. The article claims that CVS provides misleading information (and possible outright lies) to potential customers visiting these pharmacies and suggests that this practice may be illegal in some cases.
