CVS Health is facing another lawsuit brought by a former employee who claims the pharmacy chain's decision to fire her after she refused to prescribe birth control to patients violated her religious rights under federal law.

Consumer Value StoreCVS Pharmacy / Full name CVS was founded in 1963 by Stanley Goldstein, Sidney Goldstein, and Ralph Hoagland. They called it “Consumer Value Stores.” The original store logo from 1964 broadcasted both the acronym and the full words.

Historical highlights 1963: The first Consumer Value Store selling health and beauty products is founded in Lowell, Massachusetts. A year later, the name is changed to CVS. 1967: Pharmacies within CVS stores are introduced in Cranston, Rhode Island. 1969: CVS is sold to Melville Corporation.

CVS Health is a health care innovation company with a simple and clear purpose: Helping people on their path to better health. And that purpose goes beyond dispensing medications – we're dedicated to making health services more convenient and accessible, and to helping to keep our communities healthy.

Lawsuits by numerous states accused CVS and other pharmacy chains of fueling the opioid crisis by filling prescriptions that should have been flagged as inappropriate.

CVS' policy regarding abortion-inducing medications is at the center of a boycott after a Texas physician's tweet began trending Saturday. Messages on the popular social media site balked at the retail pharmacy refusing to fill a prescription for non-abortion related care, using #BoycottCVS.

CVS, started in Lowell, Massachusetts by brothers Stanley and Sidney Goldstein and their partner Ralph Hoagland, later had to sell to the Melville Corporation, formerly based in Rye, New York. The name stood for Consumer Value Stores.

“I got this dry mouth spray from “Consumer Value Stores, and the experience of using it is kind of, like, someone who's in the middle of chewing gum is spitting into your mouth,” the TikToker named Nisa said. It didn't take long for viewers to rush to the comments about Nisa using the store's full-on “government name.”

The heart is a symbol understood across ages, geographies and experiences. As a logo for CVS Health, it also represents the brand's values of integrity, caring, collaboration, innovation and accountability.

CVS sells prescription drugs and a wide assortment of general merchandise, including over-the-counter drugs, beauty products and cosmetics, film and photo finishing services, seasonal merchandise, greeting cards, and convenience foods through their CVS Pharmacy and Longs Drugs retail stores and online through CVS.com.

Fast facts

• CVS Health is headquartered in Woonsocket, R.I.
• The company has more than 300,000 employees, according to its 2022 year-end report.
• CVS Health was ranked 6th in the Fortune 500 in 2023, behind UnitedHealth Group in fifth.
• The company fell from its fourth place ranking on the Fortune 500 in 2022.

CVS and Walgreens agree to pay $10 billion to settle lawsuits linked to opioid sales. CVS would pay nearly $5 billion over 10 years, while Walgreens would pay $5.7 billion over 15 years, in a settlement over their roles in the opioid crisis.