Fla. Probes Eckerd’s Billing Practices

J.C. Penney Co.’s Eckerd drugstore chain is facing a civil investigation by Florida officials into allegations it overcharged customers for medicine.

The Florida attorney general’s office said on its Web site it is investigating whether Eckerd overstated on liquid-medicine labels the amount of medicine in the package and then charged customers for the amount shown on the label.

A class-action lawsuit filed in Broward County, Fla., accused Eckerd of bilking customers out of more than $100 million.

The Clearwater, Fla.-based drugstore chain said last week that prescriptions such as liquids and ointments come from the manufacturer in prepackaged fractional amounts and are sold to customers at a price set for that quantity. The quantity, but not the price, needed to be rounded up to correctly process the drugs because of “systems limitations,” the company has said.

Shares of Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penney fell 88 cents, or 3.9%, to close at $21.70 on the NYSE.