When I heard that an aggressive and highly contagious new flu virus variant was sweeping through Missouri, I immediately started to worry.
A new “K” strain of influenza is expected to cause a severe flu season across the state and all over the nation this winter. Scientists fear it could be more infectious than variants from recent years and cause dangerous symptoms to develop frighteningly quickly.
I have a newborn whose immune system is still developing and aging parents who get more vulnerable every year. We need reliable 24/7 access to medicines.
But right now, I don’t actually know if I can get the right drugs quickly if my son spikes a fever at night because pharmacies are reducing their opening hours or closing down altogether.
My parents are facing the same situation as I am. The emerging variant is expected to cause more hospitalizations this winter, particularly among the elderly.
Can Mom and Dad rely on getting affordable medicines from a convenient pharmacy? Will it even be open when they get sick? The answer is definitely not a definite “yes,” and that uncertainty is unacceptable.
My father spent his career in law enforcement and is still active and independent. He doesn’t need to be looked after. But he might one day — and he deserves the basic dignity of being able to easily buy affordable drugs.
During a tough flu season, drugstores become the first place families like mine go to for testing, treatment, and guidance. When pharmacies cut their opening hours or close their doors permanently, it leaves people in my situation feeling not just nervous, but angry.
Earlier this year, several Walgreens pharmacy counters in St. Louis shut down “temporarily” due to staffing shortages and another two closed permanently. Nationally, major chains are shrinking their retail footprints: Walgreens is committing to shutter thousands of underperforming pharmacies, and CVS aims to close nearly 300 stores this year, potentially leaving 15% of Americans without a CVS within 10 miles of their home.
The consequences of these decisions are immediate and serious. When “pharmacy deserts” widen in underserved urban and rural areas, parents and caregivers might suddenly be forced to drive long distances for simple medications or delay treatment when a child or elderly parent needs help right away.
That stress comes on top of the existing burden of high drug prices. Over the past decade or so, prices have risen almost 40% in America. Meanwhile, the manufacturers enjoy profit margins ten times greater than those of other companies involved in the prescription drug supply chain.
This isn’t happening because pharmacists suddenly decided to gouge patients. It’s because manufacturers have the power to set prices as high as they want, and ordinary people have almost no protection from Big Pharma’s seemingly endless greed.
Despite this reality, Missouri lawmakers are currently aiming their fire at pharmacies, accusing them of anti-competitive practices. But it’s drug companies that set the prices. Their decisions shape the entire system long before a prescription reaches a counter. Hammering pharmacies might shave a few cents off, but if Big Pharma remains untouched, the return on investment for Jefferson City just isn’t there.
Across the country, states are pursuing a range of reforms that actually target high drug prices. It’s no surprise Big Pharma aggressively opposes these changes, because they directly curb the pricing power manufacturers have been taking advantage of for decades.
Here in Missouri, however, lawmakers are pushing forward with plans to tie pharmacies up in red tape at the moment families need them most.
One day my father will get old. So will I. My kids will have to look after me just as I’ll have to care for my own parents. Keeping access to pharmacies is our first line of defense, so we should be able to depend on the support of public servants to expand that access–not make it harder. I’m sure every parent or anyone looking after Mom or Dad will agree with me.
Kevin Riley and his wife reside in St. Louis where they raise their two children. Kevin is a graduate of the University of Missouri and now helps manage a golf course in the area.
