In the current battle between the Ontario provincial government and pharmacies, Shoppers Drug Mart is distinguishing itself by virtue of its nasty behaviour.
A brief recap:
The Ontario government decided to ban rebates paid by drug companies to pharmacies for selling their generic drugs. The payments can be as much as 40 per cent of the price of the medication, for a total of about $750-million a year to pharmacies. They claim they use the money to pay for services they
provide their customers, such as giving them advice on medications. However, I agree with the health minister, Deb Matthews: these rebates amount to kickbacks. They're padding corporate bottom lines, not paying for services. They're also keeping Canadian generic drug prices artificially high, since the pharmaceutical companies factor their pharmacy rebates into the price of their product. That gets passed on to the consumer, naturally.
First of all, I don't buy the argument that it costs that much more for a drug store to have a pharmacist give a few words of advice to a customer on a medication, when the pharmacist is already on duty and dispensing anyway.
Secondly, the advice we're supposedly getting is to a large extent non-existent. For one thing, prescription medication in this country comes with a printed sheet that tells you all about the medication and its possible side effects. Patients also get the rundown from their doctors when they get their prescriptions. Why do I need someone behind the pharmacy counter redundantly giving me the same information?
If you've ever wondered why pharmacies give you a generic drug instead of the brand name your doctor wrote on your prescription, it's not to save you money. It's to make more money for the company.
Pharmacists are supposed to ask whether you want the generic or the brand name. I started noticing a few years ago at my local Shoppers Drug Mart that they stopped doing that. They started handing out the generic without asking. Obviously so Shoppers Drug Mart would get the extra money from the drug manufacturer rebates.
That's one reason I stopped going to Shoppers. The other is that the outlet near me is rather badly run and very slow. I became so fed up with them that I now go to another pharmacy. I have to walk past the Shoppers Drug Mart to get to the other store, but it's worth it.
The Ontario government's ban on rebates has most pharmacies upset to some degree. But Shoppers has emerged as the most belligerent in its response, which began with several of its outlets briefly refusing to fill prescriptions. Now Shoppers is the first to shorten store hours. Surprise, surprise - the affected stores are all in London, Ontario, the hometown of the health minister. Shoppers' response seems very personal. The company is also threatening to lay off employees and close outlets.
Shoppers' CEO, Jurgen Schreiber, says the decision to shorten hours at the London stores was "difficult". Not hardly.
He says the company has no choice given the government's funding cuts. "We must modify our business model to ensure the long term sustainability of our stores," corporate speak for "it's all about the bottom line". Maybe you thought pharmacies were in the service business.
He adds that Shoppers "regrets the inconvenience" that "valuable customers" may experience because of the changes. As if.
It's simple: Shoppers Drug Mart is using its customers - you and, formerly, me - as fodder in its fight with the government. It's hoping we'll all get upset enough to put pressure on the government to drop its course of action.
Let's be clear: if the government's plan works, we will all end up paying lower drug prices. We pay a lot more now than people in comparable countries. Let's also remember that the savings incurred by the government (which provides drugs to those under special care, on social assistance and seniors), will go towards helping pharmacies pay for the extra services they're purporting to provide.
We shouldn't succumb to fear-mongering threats of store closures, reduced hours and reduced service. As for the latter, if the Shoppers Drug Mart I'm familiar with reduced its service, you wouldn't even notice.
There's a better way for Ontario's consumers to make their voices heard in this debate.
Boycott Shoppers Drug Mart. Send the message to them that their antics in this affair are intolerable.
They are, after all, not the only pharmacy in town.
A brief recap:
The Ontario government decided to ban rebates paid by drug companies to pharmacies for selling their generic drugs. The payments can be as much as 40 per cent of the price of the medication, for a total of about $750-million a year to pharmacies. They claim they use the money to pay for services they
First of all, I don't buy the argument that it costs that much more for a drug store to have a pharmacist give a few words of advice to a customer on a medication, when the pharmacist is already on duty and dispensing anyway.
Secondly, the advice we're supposedly getting is to a large extent non-existent. For one thing, prescription medication in this country comes with a printed sheet that tells you all about the medication and its possible side effects. Patients also get the rundown from their doctors when they get their prescriptions. Why do I need someone behind the pharmacy counter redundantly giving me the same information?
If you've ever wondered why pharmacies give you a generic drug instead of the brand name your doctor wrote on your prescription, it's not to save you money. It's to make more money for the company.
Pharmacists are supposed to ask whether you want the generic or the brand name. I started noticing a few years ago at my local Shoppers Drug Mart that they stopped doing that. They started handing out the generic without asking. Obviously so Shoppers Drug Mart would get the extra money from the drug manufacturer rebates.
That's one reason I stopped going to Shoppers. The other is that the outlet near me is rather badly run and very slow. I became so fed up with them that I now go to another pharmacy. I have to walk past the Shoppers Drug Mart to get to the other store, but it's worth it.
The Ontario government's ban on rebates has most pharmacies upset to some degree. But Shoppers has emerged as the most belligerent in its response, which began with several of its outlets briefly refusing to fill prescriptions. Now Shoppers is the first to shorten store hours. Surprise, surprise - the affected stores are all in London, Ontario, the hometown of the health minister. Shoppers' response seems very personal. The company is also threatening to lay off employees and close outlets.
Shoppers' CEO, Jurgen Schreiber, says the decision to shorten hours at the London stores was "difficult". Not hardly.
He says the company has no choice given the government's funding cuts. "We must modify our business model to ensure the long term sustainability of our stores," corporate speak for "it's all about the bottom line". Maybe you thought pharmacies were in the service business.
He adds that Shoppers "regrets the inconvenience" that "valuable customers" may experience because of the changes. As if.
It's simple: Shoppers Drug Mart is using its customers - you and, formerly, me - as fodder in its fight with the government. It's hoping we'll all get upset enough to put pressure on the government to drop its course of action.
Let's be clear: if the government's plan works, we will all end up paying lower drug prices. We pay a lot more now than people in comparable countries. Let's also remember that the savings incurred by the government (which provides drugs to those under special care, on social assistance and seniors), will go towards helping pharmacies pay for the extra services they're purporting to provide.
We shouldn't succumb to fear-mongering threats of store closures, reduced hours and reduced service. As for the latter, if the Shoppers Drug Mart I'm familiar with reduced its service, you wouldn't even notice.
There's a better way for Ontario's consumers to make their voices heard in this debate.
Boycott Shoppers Drug Mart. Send the message to them that their antics in this affair are intolerable.
They are, after all, not the only pharmacy in town.
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