New York Attorney General: Many Herbal Supplements Don't Contain Listed Plants

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman yesterday announced that an investigation by his office has revealed that 79% of tested herbal supplements sold in several major chains do not contain the plants listed on the labels. Via the Associated Press:

GNC, Target, Walmart and Walgreen Co. sold supplements that either couldn't be verified to contain the labeled substance or that contained ingredients not listed on the label, Schneiderman's office said. The supplements, including echinacea, ginseng, St. John's wort, garlic, ginkgo biloba and saw palmetto, were contaminated with substances including rice, beans, pine, citrus, asparagus, primrose, wheat, houseplant and wild carrot. In many cases, unlisted contaminants were the only plant material found in the product samples. Overall, 21 percent of the test results from store brand herbal supplements contained DNA from the plants listed on the labels. The retailer with the poorest showing was Walmart, where 4 percent of the products tested showed DNA from the plants listed on the labels.

Schneiderman's office conducted 390 tests on the above-listed six supplements sold under various brand names in outlets across New York. A spokesman for Walgreens says that the products are being pulled from their shelves. GNC says they stand by the quality of their products but are cooperating with Schneiderman's office. Walmart says they are reaching out to their suppliers and will take "appropriate action." A spokesman for for the supplement industry has denounced the report and accuses Schneiderman of conducting a "self-serving publicity stunt." (Tipped by JMG reader BK)

Petition To Walgreens: No More Tobacco

Earlier this month CVS announced that it would stop selling cigarettes, a move that will take a $2B chunk out of the company's annual grosses, at least until they decide how to fill those shelves behind the chain's few remaining staffed check-out stations. And now there's a petition for Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain, to do the same. (Walgreens bought NYC's 257 Duane Reade stores in 2010.)

It's National HIV Testing Day

Today Walgreens launches a two year partnership with the CDC during which the pharmacy giant will offer free onsite confidential HIV testing at two dozen (mostly) urban locations.

"The goal of having the project at a pharmacy or at a retail clinic is really because of the ease of accessibility and the closeness to people's homes," Paul Weidle with the CDC explained. The partnership also hopes to help eliminate the stigma. Sarah Freedman, the pharmacy manager at the Walgreens in Foggy Bottom, said, "When you come into a pharmacy to get the test, other people don't know if your getting your blood pressure checked, are you picking up medicine. Where as with an HIV bus, everyone knows exactly what you're doing there." Despite testing advancements, more than 200,000 people nationwide don't know they're living with HIV. Freedman added, "We need to find these people and get them into treatment as quickly as possible and this is a great way to do it." The test uses an oral swab, dipped in solution. Patients can get results in less than 20 minutes.

Enter your zip code on this CDC site to find the closest HIV testing location near you.

Morning View - Magic Fund

This morning I noticed that the Magic Johnson Foundation has an impulse purchase box at the Walgreens register where you can buy a $3 rubber bracelet in support of "prevention and early detection." What, exactly, you are preventing and detecting is not revealed on the display box or on the front of the package. But yes, if you flip the card over, you'll find a reference to HIV/AIDS. It's probably petty, but this annoys me.

Morning View - Candy Sale

Walgreens Caves To Hate Group

The American Family Association is sending out triumphant emails declaring victory over Walgreens and their campaign to oppress religious liberty. The boycott is suspended, y'all! What, you didn't know there WAS a boycott?

Morning View - Key West Walgreens

I found this description of the funky building now housing Walgreens on Duval Street:

The Strand Theater in Key West opened in the mid-1920s as a single screen movie house that sat 800 around people. The theater closed sometime in the early 1980s and reopened as a nightclub. It remained open as a few other nightclubs until it became a Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum in 1993. The theater was sold in December 2001 and closed in April 2002. It has since become another location of Walgreens drug store. Based on research, over the past 20 years the marquee had become damaged with parts even missing. Walgreens restored the marquee to its original status, with the exception of adding their own advertising. All of the interior has been removed and/or covered over with the exception of the balcony.

SF: GLBT Historical Society Inks Five Year Lease In New Castro Space

San Francisco's GBLT Historical Society has negotiated a deal with Walgreens to take over a new space in the Castro for the next five years. The Bay Area Reporter's Matthew Bajko reports:

The deal calls for the historical society to take over two-thirds of a defunct coin-operated laundry on 18th Street while Walgreens will expand its specialty pharmacy next door into the remaining space. The enlarged pharmacy will not be visible from the street, however, as the build-out for Walgreens will be contained within the building. The national chain will pay for the remodel of the interior space, seek the necessary permits from the city, and offer the storefront at a reduced rent to the historical society. The society will be paying $2,000 a month at first to occupy the building at 4127 18th Street. The rent will then go up to $3,000 in the second year and cap out at $4,000. "It is a good deal," said Paul Boneberg, executive director of the historical society. "It is a very generous offer from Walgreens."

Pending city approval for the work, the new museum could be opened in time for this year's Pride. The GLBT Historical Society previously had a temporary space on the corner of Castro and 18th Street.

Walgreens To Buy Duane Reade

Today Walgreens will announce its purchase of Duane Reade, the massive NYC-based drugstore chain with hundreds of outlets in the five boroughs.

Walgreen, one of the nation's biggest drugstore operators, said it would pay about $623 million for Duane Reade Holdings Inc. Including $457 million in debt held by Duane Reade, the transaction is valued at $1.08 billion. Duane Reade, which has been operating in the New York area for 50 years, is owned by a group that includes affiliates of the buyout firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. The deal, which requires regulatory approval, would include all 257 Duane Reade stores in the New York City metropolitan area, along with the corporate office and two distribution centers. Most of those stores are in Manhattan. Walgreen, based in Deerfield, Ill., operates 70 stores in the New York area and had 7,162 stores overall as of Jan. 31. The company opened a new store in Times Square in 2008.

Walgreens says that the Duane Reade stores will keep their name for now. Duane Reade was founded fifty years ago and got its name from the location of its original warehouse, which was in downtown Manhattan between Duane and Reade streets.