Walgreens is paying up after getting caught doing something that probably made a lot of us want to scream: overcharging customers at the register and selling expired products, including baby formula and medication. Five Bay Area counties, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz, Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo, are splitting a $6 million settlement with the pharmacy giant, along with four other counties across California.

While Walgreens didn’t admit to any wrongdoing (classic corporate move), the company agreed to shell out the cash and implement new practices to prevent this from happening again. Each county will receive around $600,000 from the civil settlement, plus additional funds to cover litigation costs.

So what exactly was Walgreens accused of? The lawsuit claimed the corporation charged customers more than the lowest advertised prices for items. Beyond that sketchy pricing practice, they were also selling expired products like infant formula, baby food, aspirin, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, and other over-the-counter medications. Yeah, that’s the kind of stuff that should absolutely freak you out, especially when we’re talking about products for babies and kids.

“California law provides protections for consumers to ensure that the price they pay at the register is not greater than the advertised price, and to protect from being sold expired products”, San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said in a statement. “Customers should have confidence in the companies they shop at”.

Diana Becton, the Contra Costa County District Attorney, emphasized just how serious this is. “Customers should have confidence that companies that sell food and formula to infants and children are doing so by being scrupulous about the safety of the products in their stores”, she said. “The same goes for medications that are sold beyond their expiration dates”.

This settlement is a win for consumer protection advocates who’ve been pushing back against corporate negligence. Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeffrey Rosell expressed satisfaction with the outcome, saying he was “pleased with the outcome of this consumer action as this corporation was held appropriately accountable for its continued violation of consumer protection laws”.

The judgment also requires Walgreens to implement a compliance program designed to avoid similar violations in the future. While a $6 million settlement might sound like a lot, it’s important to remember that Walgreens’ annual revenue is in the tens of billions, so this is basically a slap on the wrist for a major corporation. Still, it’s a reminder that accountability matters, and that our local district attorneys are actually paying attention to how these massive chains treat us.