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Also, with expensive drugs I would worry that counterfeits could be introduced within Amazon‘s warehouses by workers, or within the postal system. Open a packag

by manmal 9y ago

Also, with expensive drugs I would worry that counterfeits could be introduced within Amazon‘s warehouses by workers, or within the postal system. Open a package, extract the original, and put the counterfeit in. For drugs that are worth hundreds of dollars per package, why not? I expect pharmacies to double check everything they buy, and I somehow doubt Amazon will be able to ensure safety when the package is handled by 10 different people. If they develop some kind of (digital?) package seal, I might change my mind. Or every pill container has an RFID chip and is verifiable with the supplier‘s public certificate.

yomly 9y ago
IIRC in The Everything Store, Stone recalled how Jewellery was a struggle because of its high value to weight ratio. Pharmaceuticals will probably be a similar problem, but I'm sure Amazon will have a process built in to manage for this if they chose to move into the area
- katastic 9y ago
  Of course. People assuming that they'd toss drugs in with their random goods are not even trying to comprehend this business move. They bought World Foods. They didn't start storing week old bread on their shelves. The pharmacy division would be a completely separate process subject to all the additional _legal_ requirements all the other pharmacies adhere to. They're not going to just have buckets of Percocet lying around on shelves for anyone to access.
  - chasd00 9y ago
    it would be difficult, every state has different requirements and they'd have to have a pharmacist licensed in every state to fill the rx. What they'd probably do is buy up a central fill facility in every state and hope the pharmacists who work there choose to stay (pharmacists are in short supply). Also, i'm not sure how they'd handle scheduled prescriptions ( like oxy ). At least in Texas those have to be reported to the state and e-prescribing is difficult so most patients end up with a physical scheduled rx that can't be scanned/faxed in, the pharmacist has to collect the original.
maxerickson 9y ago
They would have to operate a pharmacy, they won't just dump expensive drugs into their fulfillment system.
- TazeTSchnitzel 9y ago
  You'd hope.
  - maxerickson 9y ago
    No, I still have sufficient faith in the regulatory apparatus in the US. Especially for something where the businesses have set the regulator up as a gatekeeper.

by manmal 9y ago

yomly 9y ago

IIRC in The Everything Store, Stone recalled how Jewellery was a struggle because of its high value to weight ratio. Pharmaceuticals will probably be a similar problem, but I'm sure Amazon will have a process built in to manage for this if they chose to move into the area

katastic 9y ago
Of course. People assuming that they'd toss drugs in with their random goods are not even trying to comprehend this business move. They bought World Foods. They didn't start storing week old bread on their shelves. The pharmacy division would be a completely separate process subject to all the additional _legal_ requirements all the other pharmacies adhere to. They're not going to just have buckets of Percocet lying around on shelves for anyone to access.
- chasd00 9y ago
  it would be difficult, every state has different requirements and they'd have to have a pharmacist licensed in every state to fill the rx. What they'd probably do is buy up a central fill facility in every state and hope the pharmacists who work there choose to stay (pharmacists are in short supply). Also, i'm not sure how they'd handle scheduled prescriptions ( like oxy ). At least in Texas those have to be reported to the state and e-prescribing is difficult so most patients end up with a physical scheduled rx that can't be scanned/faxed in, the pharmacist has to collect the original.

maxerickson 9y ago

They would have to operate a pharmacy, they won't just dump expensive drugs into their fulfillment system.

TazeTSchnitzel 9y ago
You'd hope.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  No, I still have sufficient faith in the regulatory apparatus in the US. Especially for something where the businesses have set the regulator up as a gatekeeper.