
FDA’s new rules on ‘prescription drug pricing’ will be ‘disastrous’ for small business
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The new regulations from the Food and Drug Administration will have an impact on pharmacies across the country.
They include a new requirement that pharmacy chains have a prescription drug discount that prevents them from charging drug manufacturers a markup.
The rules also require pharmacies to offer at least two types of discounting for patients, and re-classify pharmacies into high risk or high profit drugs.
In addition, the new rules require small pharmacies to have minimum minimum margins of 50% for drugs that are $10 or less.
These margins are currently 30%, but the federal government is expected to lower them to 15% from the current 20%.
The FDA announced the new rules Wednesday, and there is already a backlash on the internet.
“This is really disastrous,” Karen Aulie, owner of Lincoln-Westland Pharmacy, told Fox News.
“It allows big pharma to gut the system, which is really bad for everyone.”
Alyssa Voorhees, a pharmacist in Hollywood, California, told Fox News that the new regulations are very challenging for her.
“It’s going to be a lot of pain for me to go out there and sell the medications,” she said.
According to a post on CVSPharmacy.com, there are currently more than 2,600 pharmacy chains across the United States.
While the FDA is trying to make it easier for small pharmacies to sell patients, the industry is also concerned about the impact on manufacturers.
Manufacturers of prescription drugs will not be able to take a loss on the products they manufacture, and that will take a hit on their bottom lines.
Patients will have less access to care if pharmacies are forced to provide prescription drugs that aren’t available on the shelf.
It is a tough blow for the small pharmacies that have been building a following and will need a lot of help to stay afloat.
But for those who are trying to survive, this is a good opportunity to get out there and get a free drug or prevent a pharmacy from going under.