CVS Caremark Corporation (CVS)

NET EARNINGS INCREASED 13.8%, WHILE DILUTED EPS ROSE TO $0.39

WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND, May 4, 2006 - CVS Corporation (NYSE: CVS), today announced record sales and earnings for the first quarter ended April 1, 2006.

Net earnings increased 13.8% to $329.6 million or $0.39 per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $289.7 million or $0.34 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2005.

“First quarter results were driven by strong sales growth and healthy margins,” stated Tom Ryan, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of CVS Corporation. “A favorable product mix, both in the front store and the pharmacy, drove our improved margin performance.

“We achieved solid sales performance and share gains in the front store, pharmacy, and pharmacy benefit management businesses this quarter. The stores we acquired in 2004, in both Florida and Texas, are experiencing dramatic growth in sales as we continue to benefit from the successful turnaround of those assets. The year is clearly off to a great start,” concluded Mr. Ryan.

CVS previously reported that net sales for the first quarter ended April 1, 2006 increased 8.7% to $10.0 billion, up from $9.2 billion during the first quarter of 2005. Same store sales (sales from stores open more than one year) for the quarter rose 6.2%, while pharmacy same store sales increased 6.8% and front-end same store sales increased 4.7%. The Company estimates the Easter shift had a negative impact of approximately 200 basis points on front-end same store sales for the thirteen-week period, and 60 basis points on total same store sales. Total pharmacy sales represented 70.6% of total company sales for the quarter. Third party prescription sales were 93.9% of pharmacy sales for the quarter.

For the first quarter, CVS opened 35 new stores, closed 23 stores and relocated 40 others. As of April 1, 2006, CVS operated 5,483 retail and specialty pharmacy stores in 37 states and the District of Columbia.

The Company will be holding a conference call today for the investment community at 8:30am (EDT) to discuss the quarterly results. An audio webcast of the conference call will be broadcast simultaneously through the Investor Relations portion of the CVS website for all interested parties. To access the webcast, visit http://investor.CVS.com. This webcast will be archived and available on the web site for a one-month period following the conference call.

CVS is America’s largest retail pharmacy, operating over 5,400 retail and specialty pharmacy stores in 37 states and the District of Columbia. With more than 40 years of dynamic growth in the retail pharmacy industry, CVS is committed to being the easiest pharmacy retailer for customers to use. CVS has created innovative approaches to serve the healthcare needs of all customers through its CVS/pharmacy® stores; its online pharmacy, CVS.com®; and its pharmacy benefit management, mail

order and specialty pharmacy subsidiary, PharmaCare®. General information about CVS is available through the Investor Relations portion of the Company’s website, at http://investor.CVS.com, as well as through the press room portion of the Company’s website, at www.cvs.com/pressroom.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For these statements, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company strongly recommends that you become familiar with the specific risks and uncertainties outlined under the caption “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005.

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