Irondequoit, N.Y. — A wave of Walgreens store closings this week is leaving local employees out of work and forcing customers to find another place to fill their prescriptions.
The closure of big-box pharmacies like Walgreens is both good and bad news for independent pharmacies like Irondequoit Pharmacy. "Pharmacy by nature is a local business," he said. "Patients need to have quick access to their medications. With these Walgreens closing down, patients aren’t going to have that same access.""We’ve steadily been getting calls in," Seelman said. "I've got to imagine as people start to need their prescription, we’re going to see more and more of that over the next few months.
"The biggest challenge that pharmacies both independent and big box are facing right now comes from pharmacy benefit managers," Seelman said. "They serve as kind of the middleman between the pharmacy and the patient's insurance company.""By filling a prescription for a patient, we actually wind up losing money," Seelman said.