The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning letter to Greenbrier International Inc., which does business as Dollar Tree, for receiving over-the-counter drugs produced by foreign manufacturers found to have violations of federal law.
In some cases, the FDA found unsanitary conditions and lack of testing on what is in the product. In addition to this year, the company also received warning letters in 2016 and 2018.
According to the FDA, the warning letters sent to the contract manufacturers used by Dollar Tree “show a pattern of serious violations of the law.”
“In the FDA terms, they don’t conform to purity standards, strength standards, quality standards that we accept here,” said Gary Roberts, a licensed pharmacist who owns Roberts South Bank Pharmacy in Jacksonville.
The FDA warned about specific manufacturers, including:
- Shanghai Weierya Daily Chemicals Factory
- Hangzhou Zhongbo Industrial Company, Ltd
- Bicooya Cosmetics Limited
- Ningbo Pulisi Daily Chemical Products Company
The four companies were found to have violated regulations in multiple occasions.
“It’s hard to say if there’s anything wrong with these particular drugs, but upon inspection, the FDA found unsanitary conditions, and in some cases where the company didn’t test the drug to make sure they had the right strength and right ingredients,” Roberts said.
News4Jax went inside a Dollar Tree on Thursday. No signs or warnings about the products being sold were in view.
Following the warning, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar is expected to stop selling any of the products produced by the manufacturer. A statement from a Dollar Tree spokesperson reads: