I’m keeping this one short because I came down with a stomach virus over the weekend. But these two write-ups made me think a lot about something we rarely think about, you neighborhood pharmacies.

Racing to fill bottles and meet metrics

How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk - The New York Times

Pharmacists across the U.S. warn that the push to do more with less has made medication errors more likely. “I am a danger to the public,” one wrote to a regulator.

The American Psychiatric Association is particularly concerned about CVS, America’s eighth-largest company, which it says routinely ignores doctors’ explicit instructions to dispense limited amounts of medication to mental health patients. The pharmacy’s practice of providing three-month supplies may inadvertently lead more patients to attempt suicide by overdosing, the association said. …

“Clearly it is financially in their best interest to dispense as many pills as they can get paid for,” said Dr. Bruce Schwartz, a psychiatrist in New York and the group’s president. …

A majority of state boards do not require pharmacies to report errors, let alone conduct thorough investigations when they occur. Most investigations focus on pharmacists, not the conditions in their workplaces.

No real David against these goliaths

How CVS Became A Health Care Tyrant - by Matt Stoller - BIG by Matt Stoller

Hi, Welcome to BIG, a newsletter about the politics of monopoly. If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here. Or just read on… Today I’ll go over an important story in the New York Times by Ellen Gabler about the giant American drug store chain and health care company CVS. First, some housekeeping. For those in D.C., I’ll be speaking at Solid State books next Tuesday at 7pm about

It became a billion dollar corporation in 1981, but its real acquisition spree started in 1990. Here’s a brief list.

1977, CVS buys 36-store-chain Mack Drug

1990, CVS buys 490-store-chain People Drug Stores in the mid-Atlantic

1997, CVS buys 2600-store-chain Revco D.S. across the midwest for $3.7 billion

1998, CVS buys 200-store-chain in Michigan for $1.5 billion

1999, CVS buys online drug store Soma.com

2002, CVS buys bought assets from bankrupt discount drug store chain Phar-Mor

2004, CVS buys 1260-store-chain Eckerd stores, plus Eckerd Health Services mail order and $1 billion mail order pharmacy benefits management business, plus three distribution centers from J.C. Penney

2006, CVS buys 700-stand-alone Sav-On and Osco drugstores from Albertson’s

2007, CVS buys Caremark RX pharmacy benefits manager for $26.5 billion

2008, CVS buys 521-store-chain Long Drug Stores for $2.9 billion, including Rx America, a PBM with more than 8 million members

2015, CVS buys Target corporation’s pharmacy business

2018, CVS buys Aetna health insurance for $69 billion