Why are pharmacies closing? Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which reimburse their own pharmacies at a higher payout rate than independent pharmacies, are cau

Why are pharmacies closing? Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which reimburse their own pharmacies at a higher payout rate than independent pharmacies, are causing smaller ones to go out of business: https://www.medpagetoday.com/pharmacy/pharmacy/111338 https://www.medpagetoday.com/pharmacy/pharmacy/111338 Those obvious antitrust violations exacerbate the record prescription drug shortages we're experiencing, as customers hop between pharmacies trying to get drug refills: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/12/health/drug-shortage-record-high/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/12/health/drug-shortage-record-h... Which are caused by artificial limits on the quantity of drugs manufactured, specifically ones popular on the black market like Adderall, which are stopped by an out of control War on Drugs: https://www.additudemag.com/adderall-shortage-dea-stimulants-adhd-medication/ https://www.additudemag.com/adderall-shortage-dea-stimulants... Leaving smaller pharmacy owners forced to sell many drugs at or even below cost, which they can't get anyway, so their customers leave for bigger chains and online sellers at Amazon etc. Driving prescription drug hoarding behavior when patients can't get the medication they need and skip days in order to save up for eventual shortages. Is it ironic that the DEA doesn't seem to mind creating addiction this way? I don't know, I'm not surprised by anything anymore. So the wealthy and powerful people driving this catastrophe outside of law enforcement because they lobbied through regulatory capture to legally have this monopoly are making bank while the rest of us suffer. Which is just exactly the situation I find myself in as I scramble to find treatment for my ADHD symptoms. I can't believe it's come to this in the good old US of A, but here we are. Edit: I meant to add that if you're in a similar situation, it's worth seeing if raising your dopamine level helps, and not just medicating a hormone receptor issue. You can boost your levels by eating L-phenylalanine and L-tyrosine, which the body uses to make dopamine (every hormone comes from a specific protein, which you can find by asking an LLM like https://iask.ai https://iask.ai). I have had success with eating a 2-4 egg and bacon breakfast every day, taking L-theanine, and supplementing with maca root and hormone balancers like RESTOR from Nutrishop (no affiliation). It also helped a great deal to reduce inflammation by addressing low thyroid, adrenal fatigue and high cortisol levels by taking supplements for those (you might need to see a nurse or doctor) and turmeric powder. My symptoms feel like having depression and anxiety simultaneously, and I've found that they've worsened with age as testosterone levels naturally decline, which is often caused by having too much belly fat, which contains aromataze which converts it to estrogen. So weight training is extremely beneficial, along with reducing stress through meditation. Healing the gut with a giant looseleaf lettuce salad and a cup of kefir every day also helps raise serotonin levels for better mental health. Just give yourself 2-6 weeks to feel improvement, and keep a journal. Hope this helps someone.