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Walmart announced that it is cancelling plans for a store at the Outlets at Sparks due to issues surrounding pharmacy services at the location...Walmart spokeswoman Delia Garcia cited the inability to have pharmacy operations at the site, also known as the Legends at Sparks Marina, as the reason for the decision..."After serious consideration, given the existing development restrictions prohibiting Walmart from operating a pharmacy at the Legends at Sparks Marina, we are no longer planning for a Walmart store at that location," Garcia said via e-mail on Friday afternoon...The value of a full-service pharmacy, including access to Walmart’s $4 generic prescription program, along with one-stop shopping for groceries and general merchandise is critical to our customers...

Rite Aid announced...the grand opening of its new distribution center in Spartanburg, S.C....first in 16 years," stated John Standley, Rite Aid chairman and CEO. "Featuring highly efficient and advanced technologies, this facility will play a crucial role in our company’s supply chain, supporting more than 1,000 Rite Aid stores across the southeastern United States, and help us deliver a superior customer experience."...approximately 600 new jobs...will have a tremendous impact on the entire state and is a testament to the competitive business environment...The 900,000 square foot distribution center sits on 97 acres...Some of the features of the new facility include:

• High efficiency LED and T5 fluorescent light fixtures and occupancy sensor controlled warehouse lighting;
• An on-site truck maintenance facility, including a fueling station, trailer weigh scale and wash area;
• High-speed automated palletizers, ergonomically designed manual palletizing stations and automatic label applicators;
• State-of-the-art warehouse and labor management system;
• Voice pick technology; and
• 60,000 square feet of office space, including an associate cafeteria, fitness center and other amenities.

The digital start-up Capsule, which opens for business...in New York City, is looking to compete in the already crowded Big Apple pharmacy market by focusing on home delivery of prescription drugs...At the same time, Capsule is eschewing selling customers candy, soda, shampoo, greeting cards and other nonpharmaceutical items...Capsule aims to solve what its executives call the "existing pain points" of conventional, bricks-and-mortar pharmacies: long wait times to get prescriptions filled; having to return to the store because a drug is out of stock; uncertainty about how much a drug will cost a patient; and getting questions answered about drugs...Instead of walking into a store, most of the start-up's customers will get their medications hand-delivered by couriers dispatched throughout the city — with the temporary exception of Staten Island — via bicycle, buses and subways, and by foot, after their doctors file the prescription electronically...To build its business, Capsule will rely on consumer and doctor awareness. Patients can request the service, or doctors can recommend it...We think eliminating folks going into the store is one way of creating a better experience or energy...Capsule is launching its new way of running a pharmacy in New York City...This would certainly make sense in a number of other markets across the country, if not most everywhere...

Walgreens has agreed to pay $500,000 in penalties, fees, and costs related to misleading advertising practices that led to New York customers being overcharged for products..."Businesses are required to ensure that their advertisements are truthful and not misleading..."When consumers purchase products at retail stores in New York, they should be able to rely on the prices displayed in advertisements and on shelf tags and not have to worry about being overcharged when they get to the register."...Walgreens has agreed to reform its advertising and business practices in New York...It must remove expired shelf tags within 36 hours, restrict the use of "Smart Buy" or "Great Buy," and refrain from using "Last Chance" or "Clearance" tags when the item is available at a reduced price for an extended period of time...Walgreens will also conduct internal and external price check audits in stores. If a store fails 2 consecutive external audits, it will have to pay a $2500 penalty.

...Walgreens said...it would end its relationship with Theranos, in another blow for the blood-testing company that was once lauded for its innovative approach but has increasingly come under scrutiny...Walgreens said it would shutter all 40 Theranos Wellness Centers at its stores in Arizona, having already stopped Theranos laboratory testing services at its location in Palo Alto, California..."In light of the voiding of a number of test results, and as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has rejected Theranos' plan of correction and considers sanctions, we have carefully considered our relationship with Theranos and believe it is in our customers' best interests to terminate our partnership," Brad Fluegel, Walgreens senior vice president...Theranos was once praised for its fast, less-invasive blood testing technology but the company has found itself in the spotlight after media reports raised questions about the accuracy of its proprietary tests...Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's office and the SEC have investigated Theranos over whether it misled investors...

The imminent chain-wide arrival of digital receipts was first unveiled on Friday evening on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, in a surprise appearance featuring CVS Pharmacy President Helena Foulkes. The show acknowledged the...feedback shared by millions of customers – including host Jimmy Kimmel himself, who has put CVS Pharmacy receipts and ExtraCare Rewards in the spotlight several times in the past...We are excited to roll out the much-anticipated launch of digital receipts. We heard loud and clear that while our customers love receiving coupons and special offers, many wanted a paperless option...This feature lets our customers continue to make personalized choices as to how they engage with us, and will let our members choose to say 'So long!' to the long paper receipts at check-out...

Walgreens has rolled out an online mental health platform that offers informational resources, screening tools, a therapist/psychiatrist locator, and live video chats with mental health professionals...The drug chain said...that in tandem with Mental Health America, it has launched Mental Health Answers...visitors can access MHA’s provider locator tool; free online screenings that enable users to assess symptoms for a range of conditions, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and PTSD; and a library of articles and other content on mental health...MHA also can facilitate follow-up treatment and care through providers and specialists in local communities, as well as via its affiliates nationwide...The mental telehealth service expands Walgreens’ current medical telehealth partnership with MDLIVE...Teletherapy is an excellent option if you’re looking for a more convenient, private, and affordable way to receive behavioral therapy...Through our relationship with Walgreens, we are making it easier for consumers to get help by providing the flexibility to schedule therapy at a time that works best for them, and without the need for travel time, waiting rooms or office visits...

Valeant is attempting to restructure a deal with Walgreens after warning it is losing money on a large chunk of medicines sold through the chain of U.S. drugstores...The Canadian drugmaker will consider terminating the agreement within months unless the situation improves...Valeant...slashed its annual profit forecasts for the third time in six months, a move it blamed in part on its deal with Walgreens, which dispenses many of its best-selling medicines...Walgreens is filling prescriptions for some of the company's top drugs without first ensuring that the patient's health insurer will pay for them, resulting in losses for Valeant...Stefano Pessina...who runs Walgreens...negotiated a very favourable deal for Walgreens in exchange for supporting the drugmaker, which was reeling from the accounting irregularities, as well as a political outcry over the high price of its medicines...about a quarter of Valeant drugs sold through Walgreens are being dispensed without securing this "prior authorisation"...(Valeant)...would consider terminating the agreement with Walgreens unless things improve quickly, and believes that a "material adverse change" clause in the contract would provide legal cover...

A public health campaign in Vermont is getting naloxone into the hands of those who may need it, and pharmacists at the state's major academic medical center are doing their part to help...a pilot program operated by the Vermont Department of Health distributed 8723 "naloxone rescue kits" or kit refills from a network that now includes 10 sites around the state...The sites, which are operated by drug treatment, harm reduction, and recovery centers, get the kits at no cost from the health department and distribute them to patients who are at high risk for an opioid overdose. Friends and family members may also pick up the kits...Meghan Groth, emergency department pharmacist at the University of Vermont Medical Center...developed a similar protocol for dispensing naloxone rescue kits to patients in the ED...Mark DiParlo, manager of UVMC's outpatient pharmacies, expects to have a pharmacy-based naloxone dispensing plan in place by summertime...

In the more than thirty years I have practiced pharmacy, I have witnessed a tremendous evolution in the profession. The clinical foundation and training of a pharmacist graduating today is leaps and bounds above where I started my practice. However, one thing has not changed: a pharmacists’ role in patient care goes well beyond dispensing medications...Today, as before, many pharmacists provide patient-centered services...We are the front line of the health care team and often see patients more than any other provider. Pharmacists have become the most over-trained and under-utilized professionals in America...While doctors should remain the quarterbacks, pharmacists must be given "provider status" so the profession is able to be the integral part of the health care team we are trained to be...With provider status, pharmacists would be added to the list of Medicare providers which would not only allow for the best possible care for patients but would also ensure it is done in the most cost-effective manner...In my short time in Washington I have come to realize just how hard it can be to advance commonsense reform...a bipartisan majority of 272 members have cosponsored the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act introduced by Representative Brett Guthrie. This legislation simply gives pharmacists provider status...let’s move forward...to improve access to quality and affordable health care for all Americans.