For the first time in the company’s history, most Walgreens stores will be closed on Thanksgiving “to give time back to its workforce.” The change comes as the drugstore chain is reeling from labor shortages, executive turnover, fierce competition, debt issues and retail theft. (Axios)
Eli Lilly announced plans to build its first plant in Germany for $2.5 billion as the sector scrambles to meet demand for new diabetes and obesity therapies. From 2027 the new site will produce diabetes drugs and injection pens to administer them, Lilly said in a statement. (Reuters)
Rite Aid sued the Department of Justice in a bid to stop a lawsuit alleging that the bankrupt pharmacy chain ignored red flags and illegally filled hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for addictive opioid medication. The DOJ, which sued Rite Aid in March, agreed only to a “brief pause” of its lawsuit after Rite Aid went bankrupt last month. (Seeking Alpha)
America’s senior citizens have begun moving from prescription drugs to using cannabis. In 2007, only about 0.4 percent of people age 65 and older in the United States had reported using cannabis in the past year, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That number rose to almost 3 percent by 2016. As of 2022, it was at more than 8 percent. (The New York Times)
Nearly 450 patients at Salem Hospital in Massachusetts may have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV due to improper administration of their IV medications, a hospital spokesperson said. The potential exposures occurred over roughly two years and involved patients who needed an endoscopy, a procedure where doctors use a small camera to look inside the body to detect diseases. (NBC News)
