What some called a heroic save, Walgreens has found reason to terminate the job of a night-shift pharmacist. Jeremy Hoven fired his handgun during an armed robbery at a store in Benton Township, Mich. and was subsequently fired. [More]
Pharma Medicine
Exxon Mobil Is The Most Profitable American Business By A Long Shot
By 5.5.11
This year’s Fortune 500 list is out, and while Walmart’s $421 billion in revenue may have beaten out Exxon Mobil’s paltry $354 billion, the oil giant beat out Big W where it matters most, profits. According to Fortune, the crude colossus made a whopping $30.4 billion in profits last year, nearly double what Walmart made and over $10.5 billion more than the next most profitable company on the list. [More]
DEA Will Be Happy To Take Your Old Drugs Off Your Hands This Saturday
By 4.29.11
Last September’s first-ever National Take-Back Day, in which the DEA and other law enforcement agencies operate stations for people with old prescription drugs to dispose of them safely, was apparently enough of a success that the agency decided to not even wait a full year to try it again. That’s right, it’s time to bust out your National Take-Back Day decorations, along with your old Vicodin, Oxycontin and Cipro! [More]
Wegmans Settles Walgreens Lawsuit Over Not-At-All-Similar "W"
By 4.22.11
Regular readers may remember that Walgreens filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Wegmans last fall over the fact that the two companies’ “W”s could maybe, possibly, if you squint, look similar. Well, Wegmans has decided it’s cheaper to change some logos than fight a lawsuit, because it has agreed to change the offending W on its store-brand products. [More]
Vicodin: The Most Popular Prescription Pill In America's Medicine Cabinet
By 4.20.11
With the White House and the FDA dreaming up ways to curb the pain-pill problem in the U.S., we got to wondering just what are the most popular (legal) drugs in the country? Thankfully, the folks at Time.com were thinking about the same thing, because they put together a handy/dandy list of the 10 most-prescribed meds, none of which is Viagra. [More]
Johnson & Johnson's Prescription Drugs Stink Too: 57,000 Bottles Of Topamax Recalled
By 4.15.11
If you thought Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Labs division — the folks behind all of these recalled over-the-counter drugs — was the only branch of the company capable of creating stinky meds, you were wrong, as J&J has announced a recall of two lots of its prescription anitconvulsant Topamax for that now-classic “uncharacteristic odor.” [More]
You Shall Not Question The Holy CVS Price Scanner
By 4.12.11
Aaron didn’t want to be a jerk, but he also didn’t want to pay $5.79 for a twelve-pack of Dr Pepper when the sign on the store shelf clearly said that it was $5.19. Instead of overriding the price and acknowledging the store’s own sign, the cashier entered a battle of obstinate wills, from which there emerged no clear victor. [More]
Johnson & Johnson Settles With SEC & DOJ For $70 Million For Bribing Doctors Overseas, Paying Kickbacks To Iraq
By 4.8.11
Johnson & Johnson may have been eliminated from the Worst Company In America tournament, but the company’s craptastic year continues, as J&J has settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Dept. of Justice over allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by illegally bribing doctors in Europe and paying kickbacks to Iraq… At least it wasn’t another product recall. [More]
Bearded Man Steals $658 Worth Of Razors, May Have Shaved Beard By Now
By 4.6.11
New Jersey’s Hunterdon County Democrat urges the public to watch out for a criminal on the loose. A tall, burly, bearded man shoplifted $658 worth of expensive razors from a Walgreens store. Police told the newspaper that the man “may or may not have a beard at this time.” [More]
E-Mail Breach Hits Best Buy, TiVo, Walgreens, Chase, Kroger, Many More
By 4.4.11
What first looked like a small e-mail list breach at New York & Company over the weekend was just the tip of the iceberg as multiple national retailers and banks found themselves the victim of the same data hackers. [More]
Worst Company In America Sweet 16: Johnson & Johnson Vs. WellPoint
By 4.1.11
In honor of April 1, we present this WCIA faceoff between a pair of fools — One that makes medicines no one can sell and the other that takes your insurance premium but offers you no insurance. [More]
Help, The Price Of My Life-Saving Drug Went Up 2000%!
By 4.1.11
Colchicine, a drug primarily used to treat gout, is an old drug. Very old. Extracts from the plant it comes from, colchicum, have been used in gout treatment for thousands of years. In pill form as colchicine, it’s been on the market in the United States since the 19th century and predates the Food and Drug Administration. A few years ago, the company that makes one brand of the drug, Colcrys, obtained FDA approval for their version, and the exclusive rights to sell it in the United States for three years. Who cares? Reader Nick does. He works in retail, isn’t wealthy, and the colchicine he takes twice a day for a serious medical condition shot up in cost from about $20 per month to closer to $400. [More]
Johnson & Johnson Keeps The Tylenol Recall Express Rolling
By 3.30.11
In advance of its Worst Company In America Sweet 16 bout against WellPoint, Johnson & Johnson has given us all a reminder of why they made the list to begin with, announcing yet another recall of a Tylenol product. [More]
Drug Companies Pushing Up Prices In Patent-Ending Panic
By 3.30.11
Get it while you can, big drug companies! Pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer Inc, AstraZeneca and Bristol Meyers Squibb are feeling a little panicky as the deadlines loom on patents for some of their best-selling drugs, so what do they do? Up the prices now, before those pesky generic versions arrive to drive consumer costs down. [More]
CVS Doubles Down, Surpasses Rite Aid With 41" Receipt
By 3.29.11
A mere twenty-one inch long receipt? CVS isn’t about to sit back and let competitor Rite Aid soak up all of the ridicule from the Internet for comically long receipts. No way. The retailer brought its A game when reader Chris stopped by recently to pick up some things for his upset stomach, showering him with a 41-inch long receipt consisting mostly of coupons for junk food, cosmetics, and vitamins. [More]
Man Buys 1 Powerade At Rite Aid, Gets 21 Inch Receipt
By 3.28.11
Josh bought a singular Powerade from his local Rite Aid. He handed over one dollar and thirty-six cents. In return, he received not only his Powerade, but a 21 inch-long receipt. [More]
Meet Your Worst Company In America Sweet 16!
By 3.25.11
After eight days and 16 first round battles, the WCIA steel cage is littered with the bones of those companies not crappy enough to continue on in the tournament. But the thrill of victory is fleeting for the remaining combatants, all of whom must square off again if they hope of crowning themselves the Worst Company In America! [More]
Walgreens Does Some Online Shopping, Picks Up Drugstore.com For $429 Million
By 3.24.11
After taking over New York City with its purchase of Duane Reade drugstores last year, Walgreens has made a move to dominate the online market with its plan to buy Drugstore.com for around $429 million. [More]
