CVS Stores in West Virginia Will Not Sell Single-Ingredient Pseudoephedrine Products

CVS Caremark will no longer sell single-ingredient pseudoephedrine products in West Virginia, The Wall Street Journal reports. Pseudoephedrine is a popular source of chemicals used in methamphetamine labs, which have proliferated in the state.

Single-ingredient pseudoephedrine is often sold under the brand name Sudafed, the article notes. In addition to West Virginia stores, CVS will also stop selling the product in 40 stores within 15 miles of the state border in Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The drugstore chain has reduced the amount of pseudoephedrine products that can be bought by a single person in a year, to half the limit currently allowed under West Virginia law. CVS will continue to sell a formulation of pseudoephedrine that is resistant to the type of tampering often used by meth labs.

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has urged pharmacy companies to ban single-ingredient pseudoephedrine products, said, “Substance abuse has ravaged West Virginia, and the local production and abuse of methamphetamine has only added to the epidemic. It is past time that we take strong action to stop this cycle of abuse.”