NEW YORK — Organizations representing food retailers and wholesalers have urged the Federal Trade Commission to block the proposed acquisition of Medco Health Solutions Inc. by Express Scripts Inc. Representatives of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) argued that consumers and pharmacy patients have benefited from robust supermarket competition in the form of low prices and
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. has begun using Surescripts’ clinical interoperability to electronically deliver patient data to primary care providers and better coordinate care. In the coming months all 7,800 Walgreens and Duane Reade pharmacies and 350 Take Care Clinics will use the Surescripts network to transmit immunization records. Later this year the chain will
NEW YORK — After two U.S. senators expressed concerns, Rite Aid Corp. has reiterated the role of its “wellness ambassador,” a key customer service feature of the drug chain’s new “wellness store” format. In press announcements this month, Sens. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.) and Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) questioned if Rite Aid was confusing customers.
NEW YORK — Retail sales in February showed the highest gain in five months, and the industry’s largest drug chains mirrored the broader trend. At Rite Aid Corp., for instance, total sales for the five weeks ended March 3 increased 2.3% to $2.55 billion, up from $2.5 billion for the corresponding period last year. Same-store
WASHINGTON — Cardinal Health Inc. and CVS Caremark Corp. have won reprieves from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) efforts to have them stop selling certain prescription drugs in Florida. In separate rulings a week apart, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed to consider appeals from Cardinal and CVS to
WASHINGTON — Chain pharmacies have “zero tolerance” for prescription drug diversion, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores told a congressional subcommittee earlier this month. Testifying before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, chaired by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R., Calif.), NACDS vice president of government affairs and pharmacy advisor Kevin Nicholson assured
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens has introduced mobile applications that allow its customers to use their smartphones to do everything from managing their prescriptions to ordering photographic prints. The drug chain’s most recent move involves teaming up with the location-based social media site foursquare on a new mobile coupon program. Consumers who check in to any
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Utah state legislature’s passage of a bill that would require audits conducted by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to be “fair and rational” has been praised by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, which asserts that the action addresses the concern that PBMs jeopardize neighborhood pharmacies and patient care. The Pharmacy
Whatever aspirations CVS Caremark entertained in hiring former Macy’s executive Mark Cosby as president of the company’s drug store unit, they appear, even at this early date, to have been both justified and exceeded. In six months as CVS president, Cosby has proven himself a knowledgeable and confident retailer, a quick study, an executive who
The market for pharmacy benefit management services is in flux, with many different stakeholders working to alter the sector’s dynamics or exploring new options. The ultimate outcome of the ongoing dispute between Express Scripts Inc. (ESI) and Walgreen Co., a standoff that has so far inconvenienced as many as 6 million pharmacy customers and disrupted
Six weeks remain until the start of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. And once again this year the event holds every initial promise of amply rewarding those retail and supplier executives who care enough about their business to journey to Palm Beach, Fla., for the meeting. Those familiar
Community pharmacies and the drug wholesalers that supply them find themselves caught in the crossfire between people who divert and abuse prescription medications and the law enforcement officials working to stop them. Recent action taken against CVS/pharmacy and Cardinal Health by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Florida is a case in point. The DEA moved
NEW YORK — A less-than-flattering assessment of pharmacists from Express Scripts Inc. chief executive officer George Paz has fanned the flames over his company’s proposed merger with Medco Health Solutions Inc. Paz, who is the company’s chairman and president as well as CEO, remarked during Express Scripts’ fourth quarter conference call, “Nexium is Nexium, Lipitor
