‘The System is So Fundamentally Broken’: Local Pharmacies are Increasingly Having to Cut Prescriptions and Close their Doors

Village Apothecary, an independent pharmacy located in Woodstock, recently announced that they might have to stop filling prescriptions that have led to profit losses of upwards of $130,000. And they are not the only local pharmacy having to make this choice. Local pharmacies, not only throughout the Hudson Valley but also across the country, are cutting prescriptions or even closing their doors. They have named pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) — the “middlemen” of the pharmaceutical industry in charge of processing prescriptions and setting prices between insurance companies and pharmacies — as the major source of profit losses. Radio Catskill’s Julia Kim had the chance to speak with Dr. Neal Smoller, a long-time pharmacist and owner of Village Apothecary, and Dr. Gene Burns of Riverside Remedies in Callicoon about the economic challenges they’re facing, the issues that PBMs raise for independent pharmacies and the growth of pharmacy deserts across the nation and its impact on local, especially more rural, communities in the Hudson Valley. Here’s Smoller...