“My CVS Pharmacy”… getting too personal ?

http://www.ellentv.com/videos/?adid=022309_sp2 Here is a monologue  from the Ellen Degeneres show 09/21/2012 talking about how LONG  – and intrusive –  receipts have gotten and used CVS as an example.

Heads I win … Tails you lose…

There is a lot of talk recently about employees using social media or other internet media and expressing their opinions about the company their work for or some other company. Some companies have implemented policies that negates what some believes is their rights under the first amendment. What is interesting is that they are using […]

Average Prescription price approaching $80 !

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/250213.php Here is a article stating that the in 2011 the average prescription price is approaching $80 each. Here is CPI ( Consumer Price Index) information from the government  http://www.bls.gov/ro3/fax_9160.htm  whose base year is 1967.. Conveniently, 1967 was the first year that I worked in a pharmacy as a student and that summer I was […]

Here is how you grow your business !

http://www.drugstorenews.com/article/walgreens-shutter-certain-usa-drug-affiliated-stores?ad=retail-news Walgreens announced in July that they were purchasing a 144 store chain USA DRUG that operates under various names.. even though they have yet to close the deal… according to this article they plan on closing 76 of the stores… which would suggest that there is going to be another 150+ RPH’s in the […]

The DEA “finished off” the CVS stores in Florida .. Now its Walgreens in their cross hairs

Walgreen Florida Facility Barred From Shipping Oxycodone http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-14/walgreen-florida-facility-barred-from-shipping-oxycodone.html What the DEA is not reporting is that the use/abuse of Heroin is EXPLODING… It is estimated that ~ 5% of the population will abuse some substance… whatever is in vogue, most available, most affordable. Someone put it as … “…liking pissing in the ocean and expect […]

First they “commoditize” you and then they “substitute” a machine to take your place !

http://www.kioskmarketplace.com/article/200351/ScriptCenter-kiosk-approved-for-use-in-New-Jersey-hospitals According to this article… patients no longer need a one-to-one interaction with a Pharmacist when getting their prescriptions.. and the NJ BOP agrees ! According to the article   “The kiosk offers the same services as traditional pharmacies” “ScriptCenter allows us to better service our team members and grow our pharmacy without having to increase […]

A PRANK or ESCALATION ?

One of the “Grandaddies” of Pharmacists bloggers (http://www.jimplagakis.com)  posted today that he got a “threatening” phone call.. here is a quote from the post… The real reason for this post is an after 9:00 PM telephone call that came to my listed land line number. A deep voice (like DEEP THROAT) said, “Cease and Desist. […]

Another espisode in Phil Mypockets saga

Have we reached a point where we have relinquished more and more of the decisions regarding our health is being done by those whose concerns are dominated by market share, profits and making “the market” happy? We are just a vehicle to a financial end for those involved ! We have BOP’s that appear to […]

Another Metric … feel good law… another target on the PIC’s back?

Will requiring CQI by law actually reduce errors? Here is a article from Ken Baker that appears in DRUG TOPICS this month. More states are passing regulations of CQI ( Continuing Quality Improvement) According to the “THE PLAN”  … To reduce errors, each pharmacy must incorporate its plan into its workflow. Each technician and each […]

Isn’t one of our jobs to educate patients?

Here is a website that I ran across http://www.pissedconsumer.com/ I ran a search with a major chain name  & prescription & september & 2012 and got 80 complaints displayed.. and this is only the 9th of the month. I recently read where some of the chain stores were demanding that their employees could not say […]