Ship owner sues pharmacists in 2007 San Francisco Bay spill

<p><b>By ASSOCIATED PRESS</b></p><p>SAN FRANCISCO — The owners and operators of the Cosco Busan container ship that leaked thousands of gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay in 2007 are suing pharmacists from a Petaluma drug store who they say dispensed drugs to the ship's pilot.</p><p>Regal Stone Ltd., owner of the Cosco Busan, and Fleet Management Ltd., the ship's operator, say the pills dispensed by pharmacists at a Longs Drug Store clouded pilot John Cota's judgment and led the ship to slam into the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, spilling more than 50,000 gallons of oil.</p><p>The lawsuit — filed in San Francisco Superior Court on Friday — seeks to recover some of the millions of dollars in payments Regal Stone and Fleet Management have made following the spill.</p><p>The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/Jpwxp3) that a representative of CVS Caremark, which owns Longs, was not available for comment.</p><p>___</p><p>Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com</p><p>Copyright © 2012 PressDemocrat.com — All rights reserved. Restricted use only.</p>