WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark Corp. has named former Walmart executive Hank Mullany president of CVS/pharmacy, but the appointment is being challenged in court. The 52-year-old Mullany, who joined Walmart in 2006, was executive vice president of the discounter and president of Walmart North, with responsibility for 1,300 stores across 19 states. He has nearly
DUBLIN, Ohio — Cardinal Health Inc. has named John Fiacco as vice president of its Medicine Shoppe International (MSI) and Medicap Pharmacy franchise division. The former CVS Caremark executive, who has been with Medicine Shoppe since 2000, is slated to assume his new position on January 1. Since joining Medicine Shoppe, Fiacco, who is a
NEW YORK — As Medicare recipients continue to explore the various prescription drug plans (PDPs) available, community pharmacies across the country are helping beneficiaries understand their options. “This year there are substantial savings available to beneficiaries in Medicare Part D, so it’s important they learn as much as possible about their options to realize these
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Three years after a federal judge blocked the government from lowering Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement rates, the issue will be officially over this month. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule last month, which will withdraw provisions of the Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement formula under the average manufacturer price
DUBLIN, Ohio — Cardinal Health Inc. plans to acquire Kinray Inc. for $1.3 billion and has completed a $470 million purchase of Yong Yu, the largest drug importer in China. The Kinray deal will significantly expand the No. 2 pharmaceutical distributor’s ability to serve independent pharmacies in the Northeast, while the Yong Yu acquisition gives
TORONTO — Speakers at the Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy’s recent forum here weighed in on whether the recent shift in the Canadian pharmacy paradigm was merely a tremor or a seismic shift. The question that the speakers were asked to address grew out of changes in the way some provincial governments’ public drug plans compensate
MINNETONKA, Minn. — Kroger Co. and Safeway Inc. are participating in a new UnitedHealthcare Medicare Part D plan offering drugs for as little as $2 per prescription and promising to save members hundreds of dollars next year. The introduction follows the debut of a plan by Walmart and Humana Inc. described as the lowest-price option
NEW YORK — An increased number of shoppers are turning to the Internet this holiday season, and initial reports are that they are responding to promotions and spending more. According to Coremetrics, a research firm that tracks online sales, Internet shoppers spent 20% more on the Monday after Thanksgiving — the shopping day known as
TORONTO — A proposed class-action lawsuit claiming Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) collected excessive funds from franchisees is baseless, the company says. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice notified the retailer last month that two owner-operators allege SDM has breached its agreement with them by collecting, receiving and/or retaining more funds and/or benefits than permitted by
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — Steven Collis has been named president and chief operating officer of AmerisourceBergen Corp. The 49-year-old Collis had been executive vice president of the drug distributor and president of AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. (ABDC), the company’s largest subsidiary. Prior to that he was president of AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group (ABSG). He continues to report
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — A CVS Caremark Corp.-sponsored study found that patients who face co-pays of $50 are almost four times more likely to abandon prescriptions at a pharmacy than those paying $10. Besides determining that a direct correlation exists between the amount of a patient’s out-of-pocket co-pay and the likely abandonment of a prescription, the
Jack Shewmaker’s sudden death in mid-November, the result of a massive heart attack at his home in Bentonville, Ark., stunned, shocked and saddened those many people to whom the former Walmart executive was a friend, mentor and confidant, among them several of the editors and salespeople who work at Racher Press, publisher of Chain Drug
New evidence of Walmart’s ability to influence the development of the health care market emerged last month when UnitedHealthcare and its Prescription Solutions division teamed up with Kroger Co. and Safeway Inc., two of the nation’s premier food/drug combination store operators, to launch Pharmacy Saver. Designed for Medicare Part D beneficiaries, the program promises to
