DEERFIELD, Ill. — Many medical experts report that, when it comes to the flu, the last couple of seasons have been significantly lower in number of cases thanks to COVID-19 safety measures, such as masking up, social distancing and lockdowns. Now some medical and health experts are saying that there is a lot of uncertainty
The pandemic has brought — in addition to peril — promise for pharmacy operators who have become central to testing and vaccination efforts. The impact of the crisis on pharmacy’s present and future, among other topics, was explored during a Chain Drug Review roundtable held virtually in conjunction with the NACDS Total Store Expo. Woldt:
If talent acquisition and retention isn’t a top-five topic for your executive team, it should be. The reason is straightforward: The U.S. labor market has undergone significant changes, resulting in fewer available workers and more open jobs — 10.9 million — than at any time since that statistic has been measured. As if that weren’t
An article in a recent edition of The Wall Street Journal about challenges caused by a shortfall of workers at CVS Health missed the forest for the trees, focusing on problems at a few of its more than 10,000 drug stores, while giving short shrift to the extraordinary contributions that CVS — like other retail
As the year 2021 winds down, one story dominates, not only marking the current year as indelible, but taking its rightful, yet rueful, place as one the most memorable periods in any year, and indeed any decade. The event that has made 2021 so painfully memorable is of course COVID-19, among the most devastating and
Working at the forefront of health care, pharmacists have seen myriad transformations of the prescription medicines landscape. And they are about to see another new development: biosimilars dispensed at the pharmacy. The expanded availability of biosimilars will also change the role of pharmacists, increasing their ability to help patients access more-affordable treatments. Currently, biologic therapies
Pharmacy-substitutable biologics, known as interchangeables, have long been little more than an idea. Since the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCIA) created a dual pathway for follow-on biologics — with biosimilars that are prescribed by name by a health care provider and interchangeables that can be automatically substituted at the pharmacy —
One of the most positive stories to come out of the pandemic is the pivotal role that retail pharmacies played in the vaccination effort and how it helped the country gain control over the spread of COVID 19. While chain drug had already contributed to the response effort before the vaccinations with COVID-19 testing, drug
Wendy Liebmann has devoted her career to charting the changing wants and needs of consumers and analyzing what that evolution means for the retail and CPG sectors. In this week’s Video Forum, Liebmann, chief executive officer and chief shopper at WSL Strategic Retail, talks about mass market retailers’ performance during the COVID pandemic, ongoing industrywide
On the tiering issue for generics, answering the question: “Why are your Part D patients paying higher co-pays for low-cost generics?” The availability of generic drugs has long meant safe, effective and affordable access to medicines for America’s patients. Generics are an integral component of patient care, offering quality, lower-cost versions of prescription drugs approved
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” So said British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in November 1942 after Allied forces defeated the Axis powers at El Alamein, dealing a decisive blow to their bid for control of North
The feeling here, expressed by an unwavering chain drug supporter, is that our industry has lost momentum in recent times, that the emphasis on innovation that once characterized this industry and set it apart is no longer as visible or as game-changing as it once was. Many chain drug store participants and observers will certainly
TORONTO — After more than a year of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s retail pharmacy industry has proven its ability to serve as a front line of defense in combating the disease. The industry has surmounted multiple challenges as it has striven to protect Canadians, but the struggle is probably not over: Canada’s chief public
The sudden onset of a global pandemic radically changed consumer behavior. Now brands and retailers are wondering how the country’s reopening will affect and change consumer sentiment. While the COVID-19 crisis isn’t over, many Americans are vaccinated, and states across the country have eased social distancing regulations. People are resuming activities that were off limits
