Annual farm picnic on Aug. 18 in Pierz

Big pharma’s threat to main street pharmacies as a mainstay of community healthcare will be addressed by Debora Keaveny, founder of Minnesota Independent Pharmacists (MNindys), at the 43rd Annual Farm Picnic, Aug. 18, 1 p.m., Pierz Park, Pierz. She will be joined on the program by Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen.

As a rural independent pharmacy owner, Keaveny will explain how big pharma’s extensive use of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in healthcare has become the greatest threat to community pharmacies and how MNindys is dealing with that and working on other ways to continue serving patients’ needs.

“PBMs, as middlemen for big pharma, set the price we are reimbursed; they also choose what drugs are on the formulary. We can’t really call these contracts ‘agreements’ because it’s basically ‘take it, or you leave it’”, she said. As a result, 24 of Minnesota’s non-chain pharmacies closed in 2023, leading to what may become rural “pharmacy deserts,” according to the Minnesota Pharmacists Association.

Read the full article here.