Wednesday, April 3, 2019

“Generic-Drug Trends Squeeze Walgreens Profit”



Generic-Drug Trends Squeeze Walgreens Profit

"Generic-Drug Trends Squeeze Walgreens Profit” by  Sharon Terlep and Joseph Walker was published in The Wall Street Journal on April 2, 2019 at 7:37 p.m. The writers talk about how the sale of generic drugs is making it difficult for two of the largest pharmacy chains in the United States, Walgreens and CVS. They are getting squeezed in that they negotiate with pharmacy-benefit managers, as they are both exposed to pricing demands and there has been a great deal of pressure from politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties to decrease the prescription drug prices in the nation at the moment. However, this is not what is occurring, according to the article, as prices for branded drugs only continue to go up, and the prices for generic drugs only continue to go down. The article states that Walgreen’s profit fell about 14% in the second quarter of the fiscal year, ending February 28, and the strategy has been to create ties with other companies in order to have the support that they are asking for. The connection that this piece has to marketing is that one of the biggest industries in today’s world is that of pharmaceuticals, with these companies being some of the most powerful in existence. They manage a large amount of the nation’s money, as just about everybody at some point in their lives has relied on some kind of medication or antibiotic that can only be distributed to them by a pharmacy, or have required a service from a pharmacy or even purchased something from inside of them. It is quite obvious that any change or dent that the pharmaceutical companies take is also going to be one that is going to be felt by the American public, considering that there is a huge correlation of dependency between the two. Because of this, it is not only important that these companies be as honest as possible about the problems that they are experiencing and what their overall plan to deal with this concern will be in the upcoming future, but also that they are going to work with the public in an attempt to ensure that they are not going to feel the brunt of these changes and fluctuations.


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