4 ms·

I really don’t trust Amazon with this part of my life, and don’t really want them to become a powerful force in medicine. I really want to work with local phar

I really don’t trust Amazon with this part of my life, and don’t really want them to become a powerful force in medicine. I really want to work with local pharmacies on something like this and not faceless, nameless, outsourced Amazon. Am I alone?

sacnoradhq 3y ago
Elderly people have a hard time dosing multiple to many medications, and some meds with narrow therapeutic-OD ranges need extra attention to avoid deadly mistakes.
- bmitc 3y ago
  Why does the solution to that problem require Amazon buying up all these smaller companies already providing solutions to that problem?
  - sacnoradhq 3y ago
    You're going off on an agenda tangent immaterial to the problem of dosing multiple medications.
    - bmitc 3y ago
      A tangent? It is exactly the context of the comment you replied to. Maybe you had originally replied to the wrong comment?
znpy 3y ago
> Am I alone? Yes. > I really want to work with local pharmacies on something like this Local pharmacies don't want to work with you and really don't want an initiative like amazon's one to exist. Amazon usually take advantage of large scale economy to get profits off optimized costs. Local pharmacies just apply a markup to get their profit.
- phil21 3y ago
  > Local pharmacies just apply a markup to get their profit. You'd think so, but not on medication. Most of them at least. Looking into it recently since the business fascinates me, independent pharmacies operate more like gas stations selling gas as a loss leader, making it up on convenience items. Many drugs don't even get reimbursed at break even by PBMs these days. Within a decade not a single independent will exist. Local pharmacies absolutely want to work with you on stuff like this, many have for decades already. Like many industries, they are being squeezed out as some Ivy MBA decides they want every ounce and then some of that consumer surplus. This is done on purpose to push patients to the vertically integrated options like CVS Caremark. They cannot compete in an environment where consumers will walk over a $3 difference, and they get squeezed by PBMs on the other side. Anyone fulfilling via Amazon is playing with fire in my opinion. It's gonna work until you eventually get hit by the shortages that are only likely to increase. The ability to talk to a human is going to become extremely important, and likely only available to the very wealthy at this point. Amazon is less taking advantage of scale, and more that of regulatory capture in my mind. The big innovation is being big enough the other monopoly players can't just totally dictate terms.
  - happytiger 3y ago
    That’s my biggest concern. After spending time at a generics manufacturer I discovered how difficult it is for them to get to market and make money as the pathways are closed in a lot of modern medical systems. Further consolidation means more medical system for the rich and less for the poor, and I’m fundamentally against that, especially when the main selling point is convenience.
HWR_14 3y ago
You're not alone in not wanting Amazon involved in this part of your life.
- happytiger 3y ago
  Thank you. Seriously.
dazc 3y ago
You'll be amazed how many pharmacies in the UK are unable to take 4 boxes from a shelf and put them in a bag without screwing up. I have a friend who has had to change pharmacies multiple times due to unreliability and incompetence.
whiterock 3y ago
> Am I alone? No you‘re not. Haven‘t touched or spent money with Amazon for several years.
- happytiger 3y ago
  It’s nice to know there are still people out there resisting the machine. People act like this societal direction is inevitable.
cainxinth 3y ago
The mom and pop pharmacies by me keep inconvenient hours. The national chains like CVS are atrocious (long lines, terrible customer service). Switching to getting my pills delivered from Amazon took literally minutes and I haven’t had a single issue. I’m never going back to CVS!

sacnoradhq 3y ago

Elderly people have a hard time dosing multiple to many medications, and some meds with narrow therapeutic-OD ranges need extra attention to avoid deadly mistakes.

bmitc 3y ago
Why does the solution to that problem require Amazon buying up all these smaller companies already providing solutions to that problem?
- sacnoradhq 3y ago
  You're going off on an agenda tangent immaterial to the problem of dosing multiple medications.
  - bmitc 3y ago
    A tangent? It is exactly the context of the comment you replied to. Maybe you had originally replied to the wrong comment?

znpy 3y ago

> Am I alone? Yes. > I really want to work with local pharmacies on something like this Local pharmacies don't want to work with you and really don't want an initiative like amazon's one to exist. Amazon usually take advantage of large scale economy to get profits off optimized costs. Local pharmacies just apply a markup to get their profit.

phil21 3y ago
> Local pharmacies just apply a markup to get their profit. You'd think so, but not on medication. Most of them at least. Looking into it recently since the business fascinates me, independent pharmacies operate more like gas stations selling gas as a loss leader, making it up on convenience items. Many drugs don't even get reimbursed at break even by PBMs these days. Within a decade not a single independent will exist. Local pharmacies absolutely want to work with you on stuff like this, many have for decades already. Like many industries, they are being squeezed out as some Ivy MBA decides they want every ounce and then some of that consumer surplus. This is done on purpose to push patients to the vertically integrated options like CVS Caremark. They cannot compete in an environment where consumers will walk over a $3 difference, and they get squeezed by PBMs on the other side. Anyone fulfilling via Amazon is playing with fire in my opinion. It's gonna work until you eventually get hit by the shortages that are only likely to increase. The ability to talk to a human is going to become extremely important, and likely only available to the very wealthy at this point. Amazon is less taking advantage of scale, and more that of regulatory capture in my mind. The big innovation is being big enough the other monopoly players can't just totally dictate terms.
- happytiger 3y ago
  That’s my biggest concern. After spending time at a generics manufacturer I discovered how difficult it is for them to get to market and make money as the pathways are closed in a lot of modern medical systems. Further consolidation means more medical system for the rich and less for the poor, and I’m fundamentally against that, especially when the main selling point is convenience.

HWR_14 3y ago

You're not alone in not wanting Amazon involved in this part of your life.

happytiger 3y ago
Thank you. Seriously.

dazc 3y ago

You'll be amazed how many pharmacies in the UK are unable to take 4 boxes from a shelf and put them in a bag without screwing up. I have a friend who has had to change pharmacies multiple times due to unreliability and incompetence.

whiterock 3y ago

> Am I alone? No you‘re not. Haven‘t touched or spent money with Amazon for several years.

happytiger 3y ago
It’s nice to know there are still people out there resisting the machine. People act like this societal direction is inevitable.

cainxinth 3y ago

The mom and pop pharmacies by me keep inconvenient hours. The national chains like CVS are atrocious (long lines, terrible customer service). Switching to getting my pills delivered from Amazon took literally minutes and I haven’t had a single issue. I’m never going back to CVS!