Drugstore chain CVS/Caremark is garnering praise for its decision to stop selling tobacco products –“yet another sign of its metamorphosis into becoming more of a healthcare provider than a largely retail business,” as the New York Times (2/5/14) described it. “We’ve come to the conclusion that cigarettes have no place in a setting where healthcare is being delivered,” CEO Larry Merlo declared to AP (2/5/14).
Headlines like “CVS Tobacco Ban: Why It’s Sacrificing $2 Billion in Sales” (Christian Science Monitor, 2/5/14) stress what the company stands to lose. The Washington Post (2/5/14) quotes a policy advocate: “CVS taking this step is a giant leap forward. From a purely commercial standpoint, it doesn’t make any sense.”
There’s no need to detract from the positive health impacts of the decision. But while coverage suggests a tale of corporate “vision,” or even morality over moneymaking, it might be worth wedging in among the accolades an acknowledgement that CVS has other reasons to encourage consumers to think of it as pharmacy first (or, as a rep told USA Today, “as an alternative to the doctor’s office”):
In 2013, Consumer Reports revealed that CVS charged among the industry’s highest retail prices, including enormous markups on generic drugs.
Maybe when you’re selling drugs for more than four or five times what some of your for-profit competitors are charging, you can afford to “sacrifice.”
It’s too easy, but …
Call it a “smokeless screen”.
I note the huge range of supermarket pharmacy prices on drugs like Lipitor (no, I don’t take any of the drugs listed, but I do and have taken others not listed). Why would anyone pay over $200 for the same amount of a drug they could get for $5 at a different supermarket?
I don’t see the connection between CVS generic pharmaceutical prices and the decision to stop cigarette sales. Will the absence of cigarette sales drive up the sale of generic medicine?
I knew it!
Over 100,000 people die every year from FDA-approved prescription drugs. so even though CVS will stop selling smokes, they’re still killing plenty of others. What’s your poison?
Excellent point, Robert.
This whole “sacrificing tobacco revenue” gimmick is just to manipulate their consumer base into paying outrageous (and unnecessary) prices for drugs they could get cheaper elsewhere.
The funniest thing is as pot becomes legal …I wonder if CVS will sell it,while not selling cigs and the electronic cigs?The other funny thing is as the government attaches taxes to cigs to pay for new programs they are forcing them out of business at the same time.Robbing these massive programs of funding.
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