Investors are more interested in their ability to make a profit than the potential of chronic pain pts being denied appropriate therapy. Notice that they are using the 49,000 opiate deaths – of which the majority – and growing – are from illegal opiates from Mexico and China.
This article suggests that the major chain pharmacies are going to get the same message from these investors activists Investors for Opioid Accountability
Also note that they reference ALLEGATIONS by the DEA against Rite Aid dispensing controlled substances with using a medical practitioner’s incorrect or invalid DEA registration number. It appears that this was an ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUE – a BOOKKEEPING ERROR- … of submitting a INCORRECT or INVALID DEA number of the prescriber… not that the prescriber did not have the legal authority to prescriber controlled substances. This could easily happen in entering a new prescriber to the computer’s database, causing all prescriptions submitted going forward to have the incorrect number until the error was discovered. It is not typical for the Rx dept staff to check and recheck a prescriber’s DEA number in the computer system each time a new or refill prescription is handled. This appears to be just another “money grab” by the DEA… if they have illegally dispensed controlled substances the fine would have been in the multi-million area.
If these investor groups are more concerned about their profits from the stocks they own in these and other pharmacy chains and/or companies that have prescription depts as part of their operation. They are apparently using claimed opiate deaths using both legal & illegal opiates… so they are not apparently looking for the “real numbers” they only “real numbers that they are interested in is those that shows up on their balance sheet.
Click here to use a website that will help you find a INDEPENDENT PHARMACY by zip code. The typical independent pharmacy where you will be dealing with the Pharmacist/Owner and the how you are treated is typically the difference if like night and day .. if you have been patronizing a chain store. We had our own independent pharmacy for 20 yrs.. I am very familiar with the mindset.
Is it time to show all those outside interests that are trying to adversely impact your chronic pain therapy ? Move all your prescriptions to a INDEPENDENT PHARMACY and show them just how important your patronage of these chains stores is to the company’s stock price and bottom line
Amid mounting lawsuits alleging inadequate oversight of opioid dispensing, investors back calls for a board risk assessment at Rite Aid annual meeting
At Rite Aid’s annual meeting of shareholders earlier today, 56.7% of investors supported a shareholder resolution calling for a board report describing how the company is monitoring and managing financial and reputational risks related to the opioid crisis.
Provisional estimates from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) indicate opioid deaths rose to 49,000 in 2017 and a recent report pegged the cumulative economic toll of the opioid epidemic at over $1 trillion.
The resolution was filed by the UAW Retiree Benefits Trust as part of an ongoing campaign by Investors for Opioid Accountability (IOA), a coalition of institutional investors representing over $2.2 trillion in assets that have been engaging companies related to opioids to encourage governance reforms that will address the problem. An earlier engagement initiated by the Teamsters with McKesson resulted in the first board report on risks tied to opioids. Last year similar resolutions achieved the support of a majority of independent investors at manufacturers and distributors AmerisourceBergen and Depomed and were withdrawn in advance of a vote at Cardinal Health and Endo when they agreed to publish board risk reports.
Rite Aid is the first of three retail pharmacies that will receive board risk resolutions for their 2018-2019 proxy. Resolutions will also be filed at Walgreens and CVS.
“Retail pharmacies that are dispensing these drugs to patients on a daily basis can play an important role in preventing their misuse,” said Donna Meyer of Mercy Investment Services, and co-leader of the IOA. “It is critical that these companies have robust monitoring and management mechanisms in place to thwart potential fraud and to avoid the legal and financial liabilities associated with the improper distribution and misuse of these medicines.”
Rite Aid has already been the subject of numerous lawsuits related to opioid distribution. The company is a defendant in the Ohio multidistrict opioid litigation. Separately, a lawsuit by several municipalities in West Virginia alleging that Rite Aid’s inadequate oversight of its distribution of opioids contributed to the epidemic in that state was also moved to federal court in April 2018. According to its annual report, Rite Aid also faces similar lawsuits in Tennessee and South Carolina.
Rite Aid has also come under fire recently from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for irresponsible dispensing and distribution of controlled substances. In 2017, Rite Aid settled claims, according to an announcement by the DEA,
“to resolve allegations that certain Rite Aid pharmacies in Los Angeles dispensed and/or recorded controlled substances using a medical practitioner’s incorrect or invalid DEA registration number”. Rite Aid paid an $834,200 civil penalty.
A separate resolution calling on Rite Aid to produce a sustainability report detailing the company’s environmental, social and governance risk achieved 77% support, again a clear indication that shareholders believe a focus on ESG performance would greatly benefit investors.
Both resolutions secured the endorsement of proxy advisory services Glass Lewis and ISS.
“Beyond the misuse of opioids, Rite Aid is woefully behind its peers in addressing many environmental and social challenges,” said Tom McCaney of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. “A glaring example of the conflict between its stated mission and day-to-day operations is Rite Aid’s continued sales of tobacco products. If your mission is ‘to improve the health and wellness of our communities…’ you have no business selling tobacco. A comprehensive sustainability report reflecting a company-wide policy would assist Rite Aid in eliminating these conflicts.”
The investors say they look forward to productive dialogues with management on these issues in the coming months.
About the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
Celebrating its 48th year, ICCR is the pioneer coalition of shareholder advocates who view the management of their investments as a catalyst for social change. Its 300 member organizations comprise faith communities, socially responsible asset managers, unions, pensions, NGOs and other socially responsible investors with combined assets of over $400 billion. ICCR members engage hundreds of corporations annually in an effort to foster greater corporate accountability. www.iccr.org
Filed under: General Problems
In the list of independent pharmacies near me, Sears pharmacy is listed. Is it considered an independent pharmacy? Or do other pharmacies that are not privately owned sometimes land on the list? It also listed other pharmacies that I would never think was “independent. “
this is sorta by-the-by, but…Sears still exists? And has a pharmacy? But yeah, it sure doesn’t seem “independent.” I’ve been with a local (Oregon) small chain, coop-owned pharmacy/small department store (Bi-Mart) for years & have had wonderful experiences with them. Dunno if B-M qualifies as independent entirely, but it sure isn’t a big national chain.
There are a handful of franchised pharmacies, but they are independently owned… Medicine Shoppe, Health Mart, Good Neighbor come to mind