This is so sad, this is about 10 miles from our home. The pharmacy was in “downtown” Corydon. Right off the typical town square. Corydon was also the FIRST CAPITAL of Indiana. When I was first licensed there was a second pharmacy on the town square (Davis Pharmacy)… which closed years ago.
With the closing of Butt Drug, this very rural county of abt 40,000 and abt 500 sq miles with FOUR PHARMACIES – CVS, Walgreens, Walmart in Corydon and a Walgreen in the unincorporated community New Salisbury geographically close to the center of the county.
Harrison county being the 4th oldest county in the state and its southern border being the Ohio River has quite the history being founded over 200 yrs ago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_County%2C_Indiana
ironically enough, I got this email today from the National Community Pharmacist Assoc, whose membership is almost exclusively independent pharmacists and I have been a member for FORTY YEARS. Calling attention to the all the “pharmacy deserts” that the PBM industry is creating from the “financially strangling” independent pharmacies by reimbursing independent pharmacies less than the cost of purchasing the medication from their wholesaler.
50 states sign up for Walmart’s opioid settlement framework -3.1 billion
The above agreement with Walgreen, CVS, Walmart and them paying abt 13 billion settlement, from being sued by the 50 states Attorney Generals, Native American Reservations, and others. While admitting no wrong doing, it has been rumored that all three agreed to REDUCE the number of opioid and/or controlled substances they dispensed. I have seen some feed back from some chronic pain pts that Walgreens is sending a 26 questionnaire to some prescribers to help Walgreen understand and apparently meeting Walgreen’s medical justifications that they will fill a particular prescriber’s controlled med Rxs.
Here is the SMOKING GUN to prove civil rights violations – could support a class action lawsuit – but the community needs to stand up
here is a second article about the three major drug wholesalers that covers abt 80% of the Rx medications to pharmacies and they also was sued and ended up with nearly a 600 page agreement with them also agreeing to REDUCE the opioids and/or control meds sold to pharmacies. The chronic pain community seems to being “painted into a corner” and/or corralled into some area with only one way in and out and that is being controlled/managed by entities that are determining what and how much medically necessary medications each needs based on some- one size fits all – formula or statistic.
ironically enough, I got this email today from the National Community Pharmacist Assoc, whose membership is almost exclusively independent pharmacists and I have been a member for FORTY YEARS. Calling attention to the all the “pharmacy deserts” that the PBM industry is creating from the “financially strangling” independent pharmacies by reimbursing independent pharmacies less than the cost of purchasing the medication from their wholesaler.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (April 21, 2023) – The National Community Pharmacists Association expressed skepticism that a recent announcement by the pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, owned by Cigna, will evolve the one-sided business relationship PBMs exploit that results in decreased transparency, higher patient prescription drug costs, and stifled competition. In its most recent move, Cigna-Express Scripts claims to be expecting to benefit thousands of independent pharmacies across the country by expanding patient access to care in rural communities – based on criteria that Cigna-Express Scripts determines. Local networks of independent pharmacies providing a variety of health screenings, testing, and clinical services already exist in the marketplace for Cigna to engage with rather than recreate these networks under their vision. Vertically integrated PBMs are under intense scrutiny by federal and state officials, including active inquiries by Congress and the Federal Trade Commission. Based on past actions by Cigna-Express Scripts, NCPA believes there is no basis for independent pharmacies to have confidence they will actually see increased reimbursements from Cigna-Express Scripts. The focus on rural pharmacies is ironic, NCPA says, as the business practices of vertically integrated PBMs are one of the biggest drivers of the growth of pharmacy deserts that are hitting communities with health inequities especially hard.
“For years, Cigna-Express Scripts and the other big PBM-insurers have faced repeated accusations of monopolistic practices,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, pharmacist, MBA. “This announcement has the makings of merely changing the conversation without addressing the underlying, structural issues within the vertically consolidated PBM-insurer-pharmacy industry that position health insurer-owned PBMs as ‘judge, jury, and executioner.’ These one-sided business practices are choking independent community pharmacies and making it hard for patients to receive convenient, affordable care from the pharmacy of their choosing.
“Those investigating PBMs – whether at agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, in Congress, or in the states – should not be fooled by these and other attempts to mislead or redirect or make it appear that they’re rehabilitating their detrimental business practices to reflect widespread concerns about their anticompetitive behaviors. Vertically integrated PBMs have had decades to voluntarily change their ways but have vigorously fought doing so. Now that momentum for meaningful industry-wide change is building, investigations must proceed and reforms must be put in place. Small-business pharmacies and the patients they serve depend on it.”
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Founded in 1898, the National Community Pharmacists Association is the voice for the community pharmacist, representing over 19,400 pharmacies that employ nearly 240,000 individuals nationwide. Community pharmacies are rooted in the communities where they are located and are among America’s most accessible health care providers. To learn more, visit www.ncpa.org.
The letter that Butt Drugs sent out to their patients stated that >50% of prescriptions “went out the door” with the pharmacy getting paid less than the cost of the medications from their wholesaler. It can’t go unnoticed that Butt Drugs Rx files were sold to CVS in Corydon, which just happens to own one of the top three PBM’s – Caremark ( Prescription Benefit Managers) as well as Aetna Insurance and Silver Scripts Medicare Part D and the top 5 PBM’s control the price pharmacies are paid and the CVS in Corydon has the closest pharmacy to Butt Drugs.
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Filed under: General Problems
Beautiful Pharmacy. So damned SAD. I haven’t seen a candy counter like that since I was a kid. My granny worked at a Woolworth dime store in the office for 20 years. Those are all gone now too. And Nothing is a dime anymore due to politics creating inflation. Probably wont have indy pharmacies here soon at this rate. I swear the US has gone straight to hell. Honestly, I’m glad I’m getting old because it pains me to see the evil that’s come out and proud of itself now. Its ruined our country beyond repair.