Have you ever been ogling Usher, or Faith Hill, or Beyonce, Halle Berry, Celine Dion, or Britney Spears and thought, “I would just love to have some of this celebrity’s colon, but I simply can’t afford it”? Well, you might want to check out this offering from Rite-Aid. [More]
Pharma Medicine
Biotech Biggie Amgen To Pay $762 Million Over Improper Marketing Of Anemia Drug
By 12.18.12
The world’s largest biotechnology company pleaded guilty in federal court today for improper marketing practices involving its anemia drug Aranesp, and says it will pay $762 million in a combination of civil settlements and criminal fines. It won’t lose out on any federal business or contracts, however, which would’ve been a veritable death knell for the company. [More]
Pfizer Hit With $43 Million Settlement For Misleading Marketing Of Drugs
By 12.12.12
The attorneys general of 33 states and the District of Columbia have reached a $43 million settlement with pharma giant Pfizer over allegations that the company ignored FDA warnings and made misleading marketing claims about its drugs Zyvox and Lyrica. [More]
When Customs Seizes The Cocaine And Meth You Sent Via FedEx, Don’t Call And Ask Why
By 11.30.12
In general, we support complaining to a company when you didn’t get what you paid for, no matter how small the amount. It’s only fair. Even we have to admit, though, that a California man might have been better off not calling to check on the whereabouts of the packages he sent through FedEx to the Philippines. Law enforcement is glad that he did, though. Prosecutors say that the boxes contained three kilograms of methamphetamine and one hundred grams of cocaine. [More]
Target Says It Will No Longer Pressure Pharmacists To Push Auto-Refill Program
By 11.27.12
Last month, we wrote about how a number of pharmacists at chains like CVS, Walgreens, and Target were being pressured by management to put customers into auto-refill programs, which led to some customers being enrolled in the program without their approval. Now Target says that it no longer measures pharmacists’ success by how many people they place into auto-refills. [More]
CVS Marks Up Item $5 For ‘Sale’, Offers $5 In Extrabucks
By 11.16.12
Dave sent us this irresistible deal from pharmacy chain CVS. You can get $5 in Extrabucks rewards currency by buying these Futuro anti-embolism stockings. Not a bad deal if you’re in the market for them, and will remember to come back and use the Extrabucks. This plan has a flaw, though: you only come out 30 cents ahead, because the sale price is $4.70 above regular retail. [More]
Avandia Makers Hit With Another $90 Million Settlement
By 11.15.12
Pharma biggie GlaxoSmithKline has already been slapped upside the head with a $3 billion settlement with the federal government regarding the marketing of, among others, the once-popular diabetes drug Avandia. Today, the attorneys general of 37 states rubbed a bit of salt in the wound with a $90 million settlement of their own. [More]
How I Saved A Bunch Of Money By Leaving CVS For A Locally Owned Pharmacy
By 11.8.12
Comparison shopping can save you a lot of money, and the difference can be dramatic in the case of prescription drugs. Susan ventured to CVS to fill her first prescriptions after leaving her former employer’s insurance, and was shocked to see that a medication she was used to paying a $10 copay for would cost $54.99 out of her own wallet. This certainly isn’t the biggest prescription sticker shock we’ve ever heard of (or experienced ourselves) but it did motivate Susan to shop around. That’s when she learned that loyalty to a pharmacy doesn’t really pay all that much. She left CVS behind, and now her bank account and her soul are much happier. [More]
Walgreens Dangling Green Product Line As Eco-Friendly Carrot To Bring In Consumers
By 11.5.12
Call something “green” and odds are, environmentally-conscious customers are going to be on board with it, as many consumers these days are all about keeping Mother Earth healthy. Walgreens is banking on our need to be green with its own line of household products that don’t contain any harmful chemicals. They’re hoping you like the earth enough to buy their stuff, of course. [More]
CVS Skips Half-Price Halloween Candy, Goes Right To Full-On Christmas
By 11.2.12
Children trick-or-treat to get their Halloween sugar fix, but grown-ups know that November 1st is the day when we clean up, hitting half-price holiday-branded candy sales. That’s what Justin tried to do, and he was horrified when he stopped by CVS to hit the half-price sale and found only Santas and reindeer, as far as the eye could see. Or at least in the seasonal aisle. [More]
Pharmacists Confirm Pressure From Management To Refill Prescriptions Automatically
By 10.25.12
Since we began following the stories of CVS pharmacists who appear to have been pressured into automatically refilling customers’ prescriptions, regardless of whether or not a refill has been requested, we’ve received enough e-mails from from both customers and pharmacists at a number of companies who say these are not isolated incidents. [More]
Lawsuit Accuses Big Pharma Of Using Bogus Expiration Dates To Trick Customers Into Buying More Meds
By 10.24.12
When it comes to over-the-counter pain pills, many people don’t even think to look at the expiration date on the side of the bottle. But a new class-action lawsuit claims that three of the biggest names in the (legal) drug business are deliberately putting early expiration dates on their products to encourage customers to throw them out and buy new ones. [More]
Armed Robbery Suspect: I Was Mad At Mean Things CVS Worker Said About Another Thief
By 10.19.12
Why would a man allegedly confront a CVS employee with what looked like a handgun and run away? Simple. He says he was mad at the worker for talking smack about some other guy — not him, nope — who had robbed the store weeks before. So, duh, that’s why he came to avenge that other person’s good name who definitely, certainly was not him. Not because he wanted to actually hold up the store. [More]
Documents: CVS Pharmacists Pressured To Put Customers In Auto-Refill Program
By 10.19.12
CVS has repeatedly denied accusations that the drugstore chain pressures its pharmacists into refilling customers’ prescriptions without their consent, but new documents show that the company expects pharmacists to push pharmacy customers into ReadyFill, its auto-refill program. [More]
Has Your Pharmacy Automatically Refilled Your Prescription Without Asking? We Want To Hear From You
By 10.17.12
Since we began covering the allegations that CVS pharmacists are being pressured into automatically filling prescriptions without customers’ consent, we’ve heard from a few readers who have experienced this problem with their pharmacy — not just CVS. We’d like to see just how widespread the issue is, and that’s where y’all come in. [More]
CVS Under Investigation For Automatic Prescription Refill Allegations
By 10.17.12
After leaked e-mails seemed to indicate that at least some people at CVS have been pressuring pharmacists to refill customers’ prescriptions — without the patient’s consent — in order to meet sales quotas, federal and state regulators have begun investigating the drugstore chain. [More]
Florida’s Alleged Serial Used Enema Returner Has Been Apprehended
By 10.15.12
You can purchase disposable saline enemas with confidence: the man in Florida who would purchase, use, and return alarming quantities of them has been apprehended. Though in this context, an “alarming quantity” would be “more than zero.” The man’s federal indictment was just unsealed, and he was charged with, among other things, having “reckless disregard that another person would be placed in danger of death or bodily injury.” [More]
Is CVS Pressuring Pharmacists To Refill Prescriptions Automatically?
By 10.9.12
While a lot of medications are intended to be taken on a regular, predictable basis, a number of drugs are only taken when needed, which means customers are getting refills less regularly. But recently uncovered e-mails seem to indicate that at least some CVS pharmacists are being pressured to automatically refill prescriptions in order to cash in on insurance payments. [More]
