Special Report: Pharmacies In Crisis
AP takes a deep dive into the shortage of pharmacies and how a tidal wave of closures has affected the health care of residents — especially Black people and Latinos — in underserved or rural regions.
AP:
Need A Pharmacy? Finding Access Depends On The States And Neighborhoods You Live In
Opening stores used to mean everything to pharmacy chains. CVS Health once boasted of opening or buying more than 2,900 locations in a five-year period. Now it’s shuttering hundreds, while Walgreens, Rite Aid and independent drugstores also pull back. An industry that saw waves of store growth before the COVID-19 pandemic faces headwinds like falling prescription reimbursement, persistent theft and changing shopping habits. But as drugstores right-size their physical footprint, experts say they can leave behind communities that have come to depend on them as trusted sources of care and advice — both of which can be hard to find in many urban and rural areas. (Murphy and Pananjady, 6/3)
AP:
In Cities Across The US, Black And Latino Neighborhoods Have Less Access To Pharmacies
Parts of the north side of Montgomery are defined by what it has lost: restaurants, grocery stores and a convenient pharmacy, the latter of which closed five years ago. People who still live in the historically Black neighborhood of Newtown, like Sharon Harris, are frustrated. She goes to a different location of the same pharmacy chain, which is four miles from her home. “You have to come back sometimes,” she said, “and then they wait so long to fill the prescription.” (Hunter, 6/4)
AP:
Rural Pharmacies Fill A Health Care Gap In The US. Owners Say It's Getting Harder To Stay Open
Basin Pharmacy fills more than prescriptions in rural northern Wyoming. It’s also the key health care access point for the town of about 1,300 people and the surrounding area. It sells catheters, colostomy supplies and diabetic testing strips. The storage room contains things that people rely on to survive, such as a dozen boxes of food for patients who must eat through tubes. The pharmacy fills prescriptions in bulk for the county jail, state retirement center and youth group homes. Some patients come from Jackson, five hours away by car, for the specialized services. (Shastri, 6/4)
AP:
Pharmacy Access Map
What does pharmacy access look like in your area? Try this interactive map. (6/5)
In related news about pharmacies —
Pennsylvania Capital-Star:
Prescription For Trouble: Pennsylvania Pharmacists Say PBMs Are Driving Pharmacy Closures
In 1977, Bob Schreiber became the owner of Burns Pharmacy in Morrisville. For most of his 42 years in the business, he turned a reliable profit. But around 2016, Schreiber’s pharmacy reached an inflection point. While his business practices hadn’t changed, he was selling drugs at a loss. It was something he’d seen coming for years, and what ultimately drove him to sell the pharmacy in 2019. Schreiber blames a sort of middleman in the drug supply chain known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). According to Schreiber and 11 other current and former independent pharmacists who spoke with the Capital-Star, those PBMs are responsible for effectively forcing them to sell drugs for cheaper than they can buy them. (Karbal, 6/2)
The Wall Street Journal:
Influencers Are Driving A New Category Of Unionizing: Pharmacists
It started with posting memes on Facebook and has grown into a national labor-organizing campaign. The target: unionizing pharmacists at CVS, Walgreens and other chains. With social-media handles like “The Accidental Pharmacist,” “RxComedy” and the hashtag #PizzaIsNotWorking, a small group of social-media influencers late last year co-founded the Pharmacy Guild, a union affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. (Walker, 6/4)
Quartz:
Amazon Grows Pharmacy Business As Walmart Struggles
Amazon’s pharmacy business may be coming into its own as it expands its physical presence and eyes increased revenue from the new class of weight loss drugs. After struggling to find its foothold in the U.S. healthcare market since its launch in 2020, in March Amazon announced a partnership with Eli Lilly to deliver its weight-loss drug Zepbound to consumers, and expanded its same-day pharmacy delivery service to New York City and greater Los Angeles. Amazon Pharmacy vice-president John Love told the Financial Times at the time that Zepbound and its rivals are expected to generate “a lot of revenue.” (Bratton, 6/3)
