topic Re: New Amazon Pharmacy in Community Chat

New Amazon Pharmacy

JanetsGirl — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 17:05:02 GMT

Today Amazon is starting its Pharmacy. I do not know much about it yet -- you can find out more online. In general, Amazon now will fill your prescriptions just like your pharmacist. Amazon will work with your insurance regarding billing. Also Prime Members get discounts, which may be helpful for those without insurance or those whose insurance has high deductibles. Something new to investigate to see if it is right for you and your family.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

Snowpuppy — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 17:44:21 GMT

And now you'll never know what country your meds will be imported from. And you'll never be able to speak with a pharmacist regarding your meds.

You can ask Alexa, of course.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

granddi — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 17:54:07 GMT

I think we would be shocked to know that most of our meds Rx and nonRx are not manufactured in USA.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

proudlyfromNJ — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 17:56:29 GMT

Just don't buy your drugs from Amazon.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

proudlyfromNJ — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 17:57:13 GMT

@granddi wrote:
I think we would be shocked to know that most of our meds Rx and nonRx are not manufactured in USA.

@granddi I thought most people knew this.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

Marp — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 17:59:30 GMT

@Snowpuppy wrote:
And now you'll never know what country your meds will be imported from. And you'll never be able to speak with a pharmacist regarding your meds.

You can ask Alexa, of course.

@Snowpuppy, when you have your prescriptions filled at a conventional pharmacy, or through mail order, do you inquire as to the country of origin of your medication?

As to speaking to a pharmacist, this is an excerpt from: cnbc.com/2020/11/17/amazon-pharmacy-free-prescription-delivery-for-prime-members.html

Customers who have questions about their medications can reach a pharmacist or pharmacy technician at any time through online self-service or phone. Amazon will also screen for potentially problematic drug interactions for customers who are taking multiple medications at once.

Amazon’s Parker said that the storage and collection of customer health information is in compliance with federal HIPAA rules, and the company won’t share pharmacy data with advertisers or marketers without permission.

ETA: The pharmacy division of Amazon will be the most regulated aspect of the company as a whole.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

CelticCrafter — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 18:03:39 GMT

It was just a matter of time, they're into just about everything else.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

JaneMarple — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 18:08:18 GMT

What's wrong with Amazon being a prescription drug provider? It's no different tan Wal Mart or a supermarket in my opinion. They'll have pharmacists as well as pharmacy techs on staff so what's the problem?

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

KaySD — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 19:55:17 GMT

Why do they seem to want to eat the whole world's lunch? And meanwhile, you have to be really careful what you order, because it may not be what you thought it was, and it may not be returnable. Since you can't actually see their store brands anywhere except by buying them. Are returns easy these days? They are not.

Now prescriptions. I'm not sure I trust Amazon with anything critical. Once they put the local pharmacies out of business, they can do the same thing they've done with other segments--manipulate prices, potentially contaminate the supply chains, etc.

Easy for me to say, since I don't have any recrring scripts--maybe it will work out okay, and it's certainly worth checking out.

Don't get me wrong: I'm truly grateful that I've been able to order from Amazon, especially during all the stay-homes. But can't businesses use a different success yardstick than constant growth? Isn't there a sweet spot for any business that balances good management, excellent service, price, and quality assurance? Can't businesses like this just be good at what they do, good employers, responsible citizens, and reasonably profiitable? Isn't that enough?

Whenever possible, I'm moving to using Amazon as my last resort instead of my first choice.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

Nightowlz — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 20:02:22 GMT

I just wasted my time setting up an account.

All you have to do is go to Amazon enter your pill name & it comes right up. You click on it from there to see price. They only fill 30 day supply.

I take NP Thyroid & they want $37.20 for a 30 day supply.

I use a GoodRx coupon to fill mine since Insurance will not pay for it. I just paid over $80 for a 90 day supply. It's really more then 90 days since they gave me 180 pills.

Looks like I can get better deal with GoodRx coupon.

I do have Amazon Prime so don't know if price is more without it or if you have to have Prime to use Pharmacy. Guess without Prime the price would be more.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

Snowpuppy — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 20:21:17 GMT

@Marp , fortunately my only 'script is for ibuprofen for 1 arthritic knee. I use GoodRX as it's much cheaper than my ins co pay.

I have changed pharmacies over time and yep, I have asked from time to time the country of origin for a short term prescription.

I don't deal with the A.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

Spurt — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 20:54:17 GMT

First retail, then groceries, his web services control half of the cloud computing industry, now he's into pharmacueticals, he owns the Wshington Post, and health insurance and banking is in their future too......some say that Bezos related in an interview 6 yrs ago....he wants world domination....

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

Cats3000 — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 20:58:06 GMT

Their website says you can speak to a pharmacist 24/7.

As for where your medicines come from, so what? You have no idea now.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

Cats3000 — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:02:19 GMT

@Spurt "Some say"? Who are those "some"? I don't fear Amazon. I use Amazon for lots of purchases.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

Cats3000 — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:04:20 GMT

We are on Medicare Part D. As far as I can tell, the Amazon Pharmacy Service is NOT part of the program. If it eventually does, I'll check it's prices the same as I do every year through the "Plan Finder".

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

SharkE — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:35:58 GMT

QVC may go that route next . You never know. ROFL

Your pills and such will be in 'processing' for 5 days, then, mail will take couple of weeks, get stagnant in one town for a week, holiday shut down,

porch pirate will end up stealing it.

I don't trust the mails.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

Snoopp — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:45:04 GMT

I find the manufacturer on the prescription bottle, and you can research them to see where they are located. Or ask the pharmacist. I don't think customer service is good with Amazon and think it will be only slightly improved with a pharmacy, only because there is probably some regulation that requires a pharmacist to be available.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

TVLand — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:59:23 GMT

I have to admit I have not paid much attention to where my prescriptions were made until recently.....a medication I had been taking for some time was costing $33. For a three month supply....then suddenly the price jumped to $77. When I inquired about the change in price.... I was told the pharmacy had changed suppliers...I looked at the old box and saw it was manufactured in India....the new box had two manufacturing addresses...one was Canada the other Florida.....

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

icezeus — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 22:21:56 GMT

I have been an Amazon customer for at least 20 years. I jokingly refer to them as my spirit animal. In other words I order a lot. With that said they are becoming too large in my opinion. As another poster stated, when is enough..enough.

I order my RX's from my Providers pharmacy, and I am very happy with that arrangement. I have no intention of spending even more of my money with Mr. Bezo's, he has enough.

Re: New Amazon Pharmacy

Porcelain — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 23:04:37 GMT

I'm sure they're contracting with an existing Pharmacy Benefit Manager.

Edited to add: If you get a mail order prescription, which this Amazon thing basically is, you still have to have some sort of relationship with a physical pharmacy store or chain.

If you lose your medicine or you don't plan well enough and run out, you need to be able to have somewhere to go to get an emergency supply of one or two pills while you're straightening things out. Or if you need to have a checkup before you can renew your prescription and the scheduling for that gets messed up. You might think that can never happen because you're very organized, but you really don't know for sure.