Pharmaceutical Injuries & Errors

How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk

The pharmacy industry is increasingly under pressure to cut costs. As the Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) industry tries to commoditize drug products and decrease what pharmacists are paid, the real victims are the consumers who rely on the day-to-day expertise of those pharmacists. Pharmacists not only fill prescriptions, but they offer a wealth of information and advice about medication side effects, disease prevention, nutrition, diabetes management and much more. Pharmacists have specialized training and must attend pharmacy school before passing both national and state licensing exams. However, the current economic model disregards those specialties and only pays pharmacies the cost of the drug product plus a dispensing fee of $0-to-$1. Many pharmacists at companies like CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens…