Two blocks from the Alabama Statehouse, a black wreath hung on the door of Adams Drugs — a symbol to draw attention to the number of neighborhood pharmacies that have closed, or are in danger of closing, across the state.
Dozens of independent pharmacies have shuttered in Alabama over the last two years, according to the Alabama Independent Pharmacy Alliance. Pharmacists said that is because of financial pressures, in part, because it can often cost more to dispense a drug than they are reimbursed by pharmacy benefit managers.
“We’re losing almost one drugstore per week going out of business because they are paid such a small amount of money from the PBM industry to fill prescriptions for their patients at their drugstore,” Sen. Billy Beasley, a Democratic senator and retired pharmacist, said…