How the prescription drug supply chain is killing local pharmacies

Fred De Sam Lazaro:

The "they" he's referring to are three principal links in a complex supply chain, drug manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and he says his most immediate existential threat, PBMs, or pharmacy benefit managers, so-called middlemen companies that determine what drugs are covered by insurance, the price he is paid, and the co-pays required of patients.

PBMs began to grow rapidly in the 1980s and '90s, as the pharmaceutical pipeline began swelling with new drugs, statins to lower cholesterol, antidepressants, acid reducers. Health insurers scrambled to keep up.

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