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Most of the defendants in Florida’s lawsuit over the opioid epidemic have settled for more than $870 million, according to the state attorney general. One remains: Walgreens Co. is not giving up...A jury has been seated in Pasco County, Florida, just north of Tampa, to hear the state’s case against Walgreens, a huge drug store chain with more than 9,000 outlets on streetcorners throughout the country. Opening statements are set for early next week...The Deerfield, Illinois-based company says it will not settle...“We are prepared for trial,” said Walgreens spokesman Fraser Engerman in an email...READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has recently released its 2022 data on enrollment in Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. Our exclusive analysis of these numbers finds that for 2022, an astounding 99% of seniors are enrolled in the wonderland of PDPs with preferred pharmacy networks...For the second year, the big supermarket chains—Albertsons, Kroger, and Publix—outpaced the big three drugstore chains and Walmart...
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A rush of vaccine-seeking customers and staff shortages are squeezing drugstores around the U.S., leading to frazzled workers and temporary pharmacy closures...And pharmacists worry another job might soon be added to their to-do list: If regulators approve antiviral pills from drugmakers Merck and Pfizer to treat COVID-19, pharmacists may be able to diagnose infections and then prescribe pills to customers...“There’s crazy increased demand on pharmacies right now,” said Theresa Tolle, an independent pharmacist who has seen COVID-19 vaccine demand quadruple since the summer at her Sebastian, Florida, store...READ MORE

A pharmacy in Virginia incorrectly administered Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 shots to 112 children last week, according to the state Department of Health...“The pharmacy attempted to provide a proper dose,” Loudoun County Health Department director Dr. David Goodfriend...said it appears the pharmacy did administer about a third of the adult dose, which should be the correct amount. However, “a lower dose is possible if not all of the 0.1 ml was administered into muscle,” he said...Goodfriend alerted parents in a letter sent out...that Ted Pharmacy may have administered a lower dose than recommended. State and federal officials told the pharmacy to stop distributing shots altogether on Friday before seizing all of its Covid doses, a Virginia health department spokesperson said in a statement...READ MORE

Florida has reached more than $878 million in settlements with CVS Health Corp and three drug companies to resolve claims and avert a trial next month over their roles in fueling an opioid epidemic in the third most populous U.S. state...CVS will pay $484 million, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd will pay $194.8 million, Abbvie Inc's, Allergan unit will pay $134.2 million and Endo International Plc will pay $65 million, Florida's attorney general Ashley Moody said in a statement...Most of the money will be spent on opioid abatement. Teva will also provide $84 million of its generic Narcan nasal spray...READ MORE

Nahdi Medical Co, Saudi Arabia's market leader in retail pharmacy...announced its intention to list on the local bourse by selling 30% of its shares, joining a spate of new initial public offerings in the kingdom...Nahdi has 1,151 pharmacies, catering to the needs of more than 100 million customers, as well polyclinics and express clinics, it said...It posted a revenue at 8.6 billion riyals ($2.3 billion) in 2020, reflecting a three-year compound annual growth rate of 8.4%, higher than the industry retailers' average of 7.9%...Nahdi expanded its presence in the United Arab Emirates last year to five stores and also started deploying its online and omni-channel capabilities in the UAE...READ MORE

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores is hailing a decision by the Eighth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals...In the case — Pharmaceutical Care Management Association v. Wehbi — the Eighth Circuit relied on the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association in determining that all provisions in the North Dakota statute, which seek to regulate the relationship between pharmacy benefits managers and pharmacies, were not preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act...Importantly, the Court also found that most provisions in the North Dakota law were not preempted by Medicare Part D and outright rejected the PBMs’ argument that they could not be regulated in the federal or state arenas...READ MORE

Walmart is the latest retailer with plans to stop selling cigarettes. Cigarettes are being removed from Walmart in various markets, including some stores in California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico...In 2019, Walmart, which has around 5,000 stores in the United States, raised the minimum wage to buy tobacco to 21 years old and stopped selling e-cigarettes. Sam's Club, owned by Walmart, has also stopped selling cigarettes at most of its stores in recent years, according to the report...READ MORE

...CVS Health recently announced that it will close about 900 of its retail pharmacies. This downsizing complements the company’s shift toward its healthcare delivery future...This long-overdue move highlights the retail industry’s fundamental economic headwinds. The pharmacy shakeout is accelerating, as smaller competitors exit and larger companies reduce store count...Retail pharmacies are experiencing a period of intense competition that continues to pressure prescription profits. After years of stability, the number of U.S. pharmacy locations across all formats is trending downward...READ MORE

Here are 10 key forces behind deteriorating retail pharmacy industry margins:

1) Slow retail prescription growth and intense competition for consumers.

2) Low generic drug prices.

3) Slower growth in brand-name drug list prices.

4) Limited exposure to the dispensing of specialty drugs.

5) Reduced margins from participating in payers’ narrow retail pharmacy networks.

6) Lower reimbursement and store traffic from 90-day maintenance prescriptions.

7) Rapid growth in direct and indirect (DIR) remuneration rebates.

8) Retail pharmacy’s cost structure.

9) Growing competition from technology-enabled online pharmacies.

10) Potential Policy Changes.

...the new crop of pharmacy students nationwide will need much more than an introduction to rudimentary science courses, thanks to the notable progress that the pharmacy industry has made in advancing the clinical role of pharmacists. The pandemic also has elevated pharmacists’ roles and allowed them to assume expanded responsibilities...Many pharmacy schools are stepping up to the plate with new courses and electives, as well as honing some of their existing courses, to ensure that their students are well prepared to meet the myriad challenges that they will face as newly minted pharmacists...READ MORE