Money

A US government report has found that three of the country’s largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) “hiked costs” of “lifesaving drugs” including cancer and HIV treatments by “thousands of percent” between 2017 and 2022.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has claimed that Boots’ parent company “systematically pressured its pharmacists to fill prescriptions quickly”, despite clear “red flags” and patient deaths.

All of the places on a new pharmacy technician apprenticeship programme have already been filled on the day it launched, organisers have revealed.

Boots has appointed a new pharmacy boss, Simon Gregg, who will step into the position next week after leaving his role as Asda’s chief retail officer.

The PDA has confirmed that a “secret postal ballot” will take place later this month to secure union recognition at Superdrug, with results expected in mid-February.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to review the ongoing issue of pharmacies dispensing at a loss after the topic was raised at PMQs last week, when one MP stated that a local contractor had been “forced to pay over 100 times more” for certain medications.

A locum has been left “disgusted that a huge pharmacy such as Boots” cancelled his locum shift at short notice, in a move that is “getting quite commonplace”, C+D has learned.

CPE has said that while it is “positive” that the government has “partially” accepted the majority of recommendations in the health and social care committee’s (HSCC) pharmacy report, there are still “some significant disappointments”.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has revealed that its losses increased 296% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025.

As we enter the new year, pharmacies have filed their annual accounts – with reports ranging from “satisfactory” profits to multimillion-pound losses...