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Inside This Issue - News
Retail pharmacy continues to lobby to maintain its seat at the table in the continuing debate on how or whether to reform the nation’s health care system. A federal appeals court has upheld a district court ruling that approves the controversial First DataBank and Medi-Span settlements. Characterizing it as a victory for patient care, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) have reached agreement with the Delaware State Department of Health and Social Services that will restore much of the funding to pharmacies that would have been lost due to rate cuts in Medicaid reimbursement. Walgreen Co.’s Customer-Centric Retailing (CCR) transformation is reshaping the shopping experience to inspire consumers with choices and ideas, two of the program’s architects said at a conference here. Alex Grass, who opened a small health and beauty aids store in Scranton, Pa., in 1962 and built it into Rite Aid Corp., now the nation’s third-largest drug chain, died late last month. He was 82. Chain drug retailers are working to stay ahead of the game this flu season amid rising public concern about the need to get immunized, which is being driven by fears about the spread of the H1N1, or swine flu, virus. Walgreen Co. recently struck a deal to offer prescription drugs directly to Caterpillar Inc. workers and retirees. Consumers are changing the way they shop for health and beauty products because of the recession, according to new research from Information Resources Inc. (IRI) and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
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