Drug Stores

When you take a prescription drug, that's between you, your doctor and your pharmacist. No one else has a right to know. Perhaps not for much longer. Under legislation that quietly passed in the state Senate on May 29 and is making its way through the Assembly, drugstores would be free to share patients' prescription records with companies that specialize in bulk mailings. Money would change hands along with people's personal data, but, as you'll see, it's not exactly clear who's paying whom.

One of the nation's largest drugstore chains ratcheted up a price war Thursday, offering deep discounts on generic prescriptions amid national concern about the spiraling cost of healthcare. Drugstore giant CVS Caremark Corp. announced it would sell 90-day supplies of more than 400 medications for $9.99 and offer discounts for cash-paying patients at its in-store medical clinics. The price war was unleashed by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the country's largest retailer, a few years ago.

Police are searching for burglars who drove a stolen vehicle through the entrance of a CVS pharmacy in Whittier early Wednesday and stole decongestants used to make methamphetamine in an incident similar to one that occurred in Anaheim a day earlier. Officers were dispatched to the store in the 12000 block of Whittier Boulevard after the building's burglary alarm sounded at 2:20 a.m., Officer Diane Salazar said.

Sheriff's investigators were searching for burglars who drove into the entrance of a pharmacy in Pico Rivera early Thursday and stole allergy and cold medicines -- the fourth such incident in the region in the last 10 days. Deputies were dispatched to the CVS store in the 9100 block of Whittier Boulevard after the building's burglar alarm sounded at 3:30 a.m., Sgt. Della Walls said. The deputies found a silver Toyota Camry inside the store and an unknown quantity of drugs missing.

A $300 jar of beauty cream is a tough sell these days. And that's just fine with CVS and Walgreens. The nation's largest drugstore chains are making over their beauty departments as the recession cuts into household budgets. CVS Caremark Corp. is rolling out spa-like beauty boutiques attached to its drugstores, including one in Mission Viejo. More are planned for former Longs Drugs stores in California, which were bought by CVS last year. And Walgreen Co.

The owners of about 50 drugstores in Little Saigon have filed a lawsuit and closed their shops to protest a county-run pilot program that they say would force them to divulge private information about their mostly Vietnamese customers.

With drugstores now a battleground in the war over reproductive rights, California lawmakers today will consider whether to create the nation's first law requiring pharmacists to fill emergency contraception prescriptions and other medications even if they find them immoral. Two Democratic bills pending in the Legislature would require druggists to dispense all lawful drugs.

The lines at most pharmacies have gotten so frustratingly long in recent years that some people may want a Valium by the time they reach the counter. But in this day of self-serve gas pumps and airline ticket dispensers, a solution could be at hand. Two companies have begun to install automated drug-dispensing machines, which look and operate like ATMs, in a few California stores. If customers take to the process, the machines may become increasingly commonplace.

Unlike most college students nearing graduation, Clarissa Hall isn't worried about finding a job -- she's already considering several offers, including some with possible starting salaries of at least $80,000. Hall is benefiting from a nationwide shortage of pharmacists, which has prompted fierce competition among employers for new pharmacy graduates.

Maxim Healthcare Services Inc. said it canceled 3,500 flu-shot clinics it offered through retailers, citing a shortage of vaccine. The cancellations started Monday, the Columbia, Md.- based company said. Drugstore chains CVS Corp., Longs Drug Stores Corp. and Walgreen Co. and grocery store operator Albertsons Inc. are among the retailers affected.