Pharmacies are one of several health-related issues that concern me as a member of the state Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee.
Pharmacy closures are sweeping across Washington state, and the consequences are more than just inconvenient — they’re dangerous. In the past 18 months alone, at least 83 pharmacies have shut their doors statewide, making Washington one of the hardest-hit states in the country. Communities from Anacortes to Yelm have lost access to critical health services, and the losses keep mounting as Rite Aid shutters more locations and Bartell Drugs — once a proud local institution — disappears into bankruptcy.
This crisis didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s the result of corporate consolidation, investor-driven cost-cutting and the explosive growth of online pharmacies that prioritize volume over community care. Over the past five years, major retail chains like CVS and Walgreens have closed hundreds of stores nationwide, and plan to close thousands more, citing a need to “optimize” store footprints in the face of digital competition and retail theft.
The result has been a hollowing out of pharmacy care. In rural and working-class communities, the nearest pharmacy is now sometimes an hour away. In cities, stores close in neighborhoods where margins are low, even when demand is high. Washingtonians aren’t simply losing convenience. We’re losing providers who offer vaccines, answer questions, monitor prescription complications and know their patients by name. Pharmacies are our first line of defense in health care.
Millions of Americans already live in pharmacy deserts, areas with limited to no access to pharmacy services. Every closure pushes more people into that category. For elderly patients, those with disabilities and those without cars, driving 30 miles for a refill is often impossible. Patient safety is at risk.
What can we do? Congress must act decisively.
We can also urge Congress and the Food and Drug Administration to stop a dangerous shift away from printed Patient Medication Information — the lifesaving information included with prescriptions at the pharmacy. The FDA has proposed a rule to shift this information to a digital-only format, leaving patients without a paper copy unless they ask for one at checkout. This information explains how to take a medication, what side effects to expect and how to store it. It’s critical to safety, especially for patients without access to broadband or smartphones to scan a QR code at the pharmacy. On top of that, the rule forces pharmacies to pick up the cost of printing, not pharmaceutical companies, which would cost pharmacists billions and likely lead to even more pharmacy closures.
Experts have been sounding the alarm that the FDA’s proposed rule could deepen health disparities. Many patients, especially older Americans, rural folks and low-income people without smartphones or consistent broadband access won’t know or remember to ask for a printed copy. And if pharmacies are forced to print only on request, most patients simply won’t get one. This will lead to more missed doses, more overdoses and more adverse drug events. Already, more than 120,000 Americans die every year from medication nonadherence.
The solution is simple: Congress should require that drug manufacturers print PMI and hand it to every patient by default, not hide it behind a QR code or force pharmacies to print it at their cost at a customer’s request. A bill introduced last Congress, the Patients’ Right to Know Their Medication Act, would do just this, and our representatives in Congress should support it.
The collapse of Washington’s pharmacy network is not an isolated event. It’s part of a nationwide breakdown in access, affordability and patient safety. However, if we invest in local care and keep providing printed medication information, we can mitigate this crisis’s worst effects.
