Upset customers cited a growing heroin epidemic in their reasons for being upset.
Cincinnati mom Linda Meyer told WCPO, “There is no place for this. We have a heroin epidemic. I just think it is a horrible idea.”
Kroger spokeswoman Patty Leesemann said in an email:
“Listening to customer feedback, we made the decision to pull the pen syringes from store shelves. We are committed to fighting the problem of heroin addiction by offering naloxone without a prescription in our pharmacies.”
Meyer said it offended her personally, because she could only imagine if a friend of hers hit by the heroin crisis had spotted the gag toy during a grocery shopping trip.
“It just sends the wrong message,” she said. “My friend lost her son to a heroin overdose last fall. So this is extremely personal to me.”
Leesemann said the regional stories have been notified to remove the product from shelves.
“They should not be on shelves — we are following back up to ensure that they are pulled,” she said.