The Condom Queen is on the Scene. . . on the Power Wings

Looks like the Watergate CVS got there first power wing- and guess what ladies and gents? It is FULLY LOADED and FULLY STOCKED! Now, I will need to check back in and chat with the manager to see about its progress. Yes indeed that kids at GW and surrounding neighbors do steal too. This I have had confirmed by store managers!


To my dismay the CVS on 20th and Penn which I frequent (I mean really you have to basically shop there- and I love the employees there!) had this power wing understocked for DAYS. . .

Here it is when I first spotted it on a Thursday:

And here it is when I spotted it on a Monday:

Some make excuses about the fact that it was not restocked and the "shipment" was coming. . . I said "I will gladly walk upstairs and haul some condoms from your supply upstairs and stock your power wing downstairs!" I got really angry and said I would be posting a blog and one of the many really nice managers promised he would get it fixed. . . and he did!

Old News but still News about CVS. . . CVS will pay $2.25 million to Government after violating HIPAA

CVS Pays $2.25 Million and Toughens Practices to Settle HIPAA Privacy Case
(this article taken directly from the HHS Press Room @
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/02/20090218a.html)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today announced that CVS, the nation’s largest retail pharmacy chain, will pay the U.S. government a $2.25 million settlement and take corrective action to ensure it does not violate the privacy of its millions of patients when disposing of patient information such as identifying information on pill bottle labels.

The settlement, which applies to all of CVS’s more than 6,000 retail pharmacies, follows an extensive investigation by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule.

In a coordinated action, CVS Caremark Corp., the parent company of the pharmacy chain, also signed a consent order with the FTC to settle potential violations of the FTC Act.

OCR, which enforces the Privacy Rule, opened its investigation of CVS pharmacy compliance with the Privacy Rule after media reports alleged that patient information maintained by the pharmacy chain was being disposed of in industrial trash containers outside selected stores that were not secure and could be accessed by the public. At the same time, the FTC opened an investigation of CVS.

OCR and the FTC conducted their investigations jointly. This is the first instance in which OCR has coordinated investigation and resolution of a case with the FTC.

“OCR is committed to strong enforcement of the HIPAA Privacy Rule to protect patients’ rights to privacy of their health information. We hope that this agreement will spur other health organizations to examine and improve their privacy protections for patient information during the disposal process,” said Robinsue Frohboese, acting director of OCR. “Such safeguards will benefit consumers everywhere.”

The Privacy Rule requires health plans, health care clearinghouses and most health care providers (covered entities), including most pharmacies, to safeguard the privacy of patient information, including such information during its disposal.

Among other issues, the reviews by OCR and the FTC indicated that:

* CVS failed to implement adequate policies and procedures to appropriately safeguard patient information during the disposal process; and
* CVS failed to adequately train employees on how to dispose of such information properly.

Under the HHS resolution agreement, CVS agreed to pay a $2.25 million resolution amount and implement a robust corrective action plan that requires Privacy Rule compliant policies and procedures for safeguarding patient information during disposal, employee training and employee sanctions for noncompliance.

HHS and FTC also will require CVS to actively monitor its compliance with the resolution agreement and FTC consent order. The monitoring requirement specifies that CVS must engage a qualified independent third party to conduct assessments of CVS compliance and render reports to the federal agencies. The HHS corrective action plan will be in place for three years; the FTC requires monitoring for 20 years.

The HHS Resolution Agreement and Corrective Action Plan can be found on the OCR Web site at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/enforcement/examples/cvsresolutionagreement.html.

OCR has posted new FAQs that address the HIPAA Privacy Rule requirements for disposal of protected health information. They can be found on the OCR Web site at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/index.html.
Information about the FTC Consent Order agreement is available at http://www.ftc.gov.