ALBANY, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) – As federal lawmakers lower the cost of prescription drugs for some seniors, a local pharmacy owner said the structure that outlines how pharmacies get paid has made operations difficult. And she wants lawmakers to push for more regulations.
It’s not just a local problem. Those challenges are industry-wide. That’s why the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Pharmacy collected data and mapped pharmacy closures across the country.
Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox!
Dots on the time lapse map represent pharmacies that have closed. In the city of Albany alone, the data maps eight pharmacy closures in the last six years.
“Inevitably it seems that the patients suffer,” said Zarina Jalal, who is the supervising pharmacist at Lincoln Pharmacy.
Jalal’s family owns Lincoln Pharmacy. It’s been serving the community for 90 years. She said they are not at-risk of closing. However, she is speaking out because she said patients have a right to access their pharmacies.