I Was Denied A Product At CVS Because They Thought My Puerto Rican ID Was Invalid!

CVS workers denied a man a product because they didn't believe his valid ID was legit.

Jose Guzman Payano was denied a product from a CVS store in Lafayette, Indiana.

Payano was trying to buy a cold medicine which required a valid form of government issued identification. He offered them his Puerto Rican driver's license.

CVS employees refused the sale.

He even provided his U.S. passport and they still wouldn't sell the product to him.

He was trying to purchase Muncix, a mucus relief cough remedy that has ingredients that could make methamphetamine. Some companies have required many individuals to produce a state/territorial identification.

The store didn't believe that Puerto Rico was a part of the United States.

He told them that its a valid U.S. license.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory by my license.

Again denied, he contacted his mother. His mother got involved.

She went to social media to slam the company.

"No license issued from Puerto Rico is accepted as a valid form of identification in CVS stores! This is an outrage!




CVS quickly responded to the viral tweet. They said that Jose's ID was valid and they will enforce guidelines to prevent incidents like this to happen again.

"CVS Pharmacy is committed to ensuring that every customer receives courteous, outstanding service in our stores. We sincerely apologize to our customer in West Lafayette for his recent experience in one of our stores. We do, in fact, recognize Puerto Rican driver's licenses to be a valid form of U.S. identification. We are reinforcing with employees the correct procedures to follow when requesting information that is required by law for the purchase of certain over-the-counter medications."

CVS became one of first drug stores in the country that completely stop the sales of tobacco.

They will probably punish those who denied the customer because of his identification.

Puerto Rico, is a self-autonomous U.S. territory in the Caribbean. It is described as a U.S. commonwealth and the citizens living on the island chain are U.S. citizens. The other territories are Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa.

American Samoa is one of the controversial U.S. territories. The residents of the island are considered U.S. nationals and it's still legally being challenge in federal court. Samoans have a conservative culture whereas that non-residents of the island aren't granted property. If an American from the mainland wants to visit the island and purchase land, they would likely be denied. If a resident from American Samoa comes to the mainland, they must obtain a special passport with authorization to enter. They can't get federal jobs without applying for U.S. citizenship. That is currently being fought in court.