News
from the fight to #SaveIndiePharmacy
New York Times’ The Middlemen series
New FTC chair gets an earful on PBM practices during pharmacy visit
Co-owner of Remington Drug Company in Remington, Va., Al Roberts, welcomed Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson for a pharmacy visit Friday to illustrate the challenges posed by pharmacy benefit managers and emphasize the significant role independent pharmacies play in their communities.
Alarm Bells are Ringing: Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program Will Fail Without Changes
If CMS doesn’t reconsider its mandate, which forces independent pharmacies to go deep into a hole and lose money, many of them will close.
Why community pharmacies are closing – and what to do if your neighborhood location shutters
Not long ago, Walgreens, one of the nation’s biggest pharmacy chains, announced plans to close 1,200 stores over the next three years. That’s part of a larger trend that has seen nearly 7,000 pharmacy locations close since 2019, with more expected in the coming years.
Mark Cuban shakes up pharmacy pricing
Mark Cuban is best known for business and basketball, but lately, his passion has been shaking up the pharmaceutical world by showing the wholesale costs of many generic drugs and an independent pharmacist from Minnesota was among those he consulted with for wholesale pricing.
Mobile pharmacy brings meds to Winthrop customers after losing brick and mortar store
Lotus Pharmacy is a woman-owned company that began working in Winthrop delivering meds to assisted living and independent living residents after the town’s pharmacy closed.
Pharmacies are fed up with PBMs. Here’s what reforms might be coming
Pharmacy benefit managers are under increasing scrutiny due to accusations that they are driving their smaller and more vulnerable independent counterparts out of business.
Pharmacy Comes Full Circle as Site of Care
Historically, pharmacists were community-based healthcare providers who made and prescribed medicines. With rapid shifts in healthcare occurring in the 20th and 21st centuries, pharmacies once again should be considered as low-cost medical homes for patients.
Healthcare insurance companies blamed for 'pharmacy deserts' in Minnesota
Pharmacy benefit managers are being blamed for "pharmacy deserts" being left across Minnesota as inflating drug costs squeeze out small-town pharmacies. This local news story features our friend and fellow pharmacy advocate, Deborah Keaveny, RPh of Keaveny Drug (Winsted, MN)!
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter Delivers Remarks on the Platformization of Health care
“In 2010, the big insurers promoted the narrative that single payer was a threat to Americans. Nearly 15 years later, we may well be accelerating the march to single payer, just not the kind anyone imagined in 2010, or wants today.
The moment for this discussion is now and the timing is urgent.” —AAG Jonathan Kanter
Drugmakers including Purdue Pharma paid pharmacy benefit managers not to restrict painkiller prescriptions, a New York Times investigation found.