PHARMACIST STEVE

A Clinton man has filed a lawsuit against CVS Pharmacy for giving him the wrong cream to rub on his groin area that caused bleeding and a serious infection.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven this week Warren Schumack said he went to his local CVS Pharmacy in October 2017 to fill a prescription for Floucinonide, a steroid cream his dermatologist had prescribed for him previously to combat a fungal condition in his groin area. The lawsuit said that Schumack is a longtime customer of the store and had gotten the prescription filled there previously.

But instead of giving him the steroid cream, a CVS employees gave him Fluorouracil, which is an anti-neoplastic cream used during chemotherapy to aggressively exfoliate skin cells on cancer patients.

Schumack began applying the cream to his groin area and immediately began experiencing pain, swelling, redness and ultimately bleeding in and around his testicles, the lawsuit said.

When he returned to his dermatologist he discovered that the wrong cream had been given to Schumack at the pharmacy. His groin area became infected within weeks and had to be treated.

As a result of the injuries caused by the wrong prescription he suffered loss of consortium, loss of sleep and physical and mental anguish, the lawsuit said. He also was unable to work.

The lawsuit seeks more than $15,000 in monetary damages from the Woonsocket, R.I.-based company. The lawsuit was originally filed in state court in Middletown but was transferred to federal court at the request of CVS attorneys because the pharmacy’s corporate offices are located out of state.

In a motion to transfer the case to federal court, Bridgeport attorney Beck S. Fineman, who represents CVS, estimated that damages could exceed $75,000 including medical expenses and lost wages.