The State of Missouri has reached an agreement with Walgreens over what Attorney General Chris Koster had called deceptive retail pricing.
Speaking Wednesday in Springfield, Mo., Koster says the settlement requires Walgreens to pay for an independent auditor, selected with the approval of the AG’s Office.
"This independent auditor will visit 25 percent of Missouri's Walgreens stores every quarter to verify that prices advertised on the shelves match the prices that consumers are paying at the register," he said.
Walgreens will pay the state an escalating scale of penalties each time a store fails an inspection.
Last summer, investigators with the Attorney General’s Office found that more than 20 percent of the merchandise they purchased from Walgreens stores around the state rang up at the register at higher prices than were displayed on the shelves.
Michele Skalicky is a reporter at KSMU, Ozarks Public Radio.