Pharmacist Strike Hits, Head of Pharmacists Association Endorses Walkout

Pharmacist Strike Hits, Head of Pharmacists Association Endorses Walkout

Thousands of pharmacists are walking out on their jobs this week in protest of working conditions.

The pharmacists have focused their ire on CVS and Walgreens — mega-chains that are being highly criticized for their working conditions.

The protests started a few weeks ago and have grown to a major action this week.

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On Monday night, Michael D. Hogue, the CEO of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), issued a statement endorsing the walkout.

“APhA stands with every pharmacist who participated in the walkout today. The bottom line is that we support every pharmacist’s right to work in an environment with staffing that supports your ability to provide patient care. We know that these are steps you deem necessary in order to be heard by your employer,” said Hogue.

“For years, you have dealt with workplace issues, leading to frustrations and burnout, affecting your mental health and well-being. I have traveled regularly since my tenure as APhA’s CEO began last summer, and I have seen the burnout and frustration firsthand. While today Walgreens and CVS pharmacies are the focus of attention, I’ve also seen and heard clearly that corporate chain pharmacies are not the only place where pharmacists are being asked to work without adequate staff. I’ve heard from pharmacists in hospital outpatient pharmacies, federal facilities, and mail facilities about the same burnout from inadequate staffing. Inadequate staffing is unacceptable in any setting,” said Hogue.

 

"Pharmageddon"

The walkout has been dubbed "Pharmageddon" on social media.

Some pharmacists were also planning to conduct rallies outside CVS' headquarters at Woonsocket, Rhode Island and at Walgreens at Deerfield, Illinois, reports Reuters citing social media posts.

In September, CVS was hit by a staff walkout.

“Twelve Kansas City area CVS locations unexpectedly closed Thursday and Friday because the pharmacists in charge there staged an organized walkout, calling in sick to protest recent corporate decisions. One pharmacist — who spoke to The Star on the condition of anonymity because, they said, speaking to the media without permission results in automatic termination at CVS — said the walkout was the result of steadily declining working conditions,” reported the Kansas City Star.

 

Walkout Expanded Across the Country

Hogue, said, “Quotas on the number of prescriptions filled per hour or vaccines administered per day, or even time to answer the phone, simply fail to recognize that the pharmacist–patient relationship is not transactional. It is a special covenant—and supervisors who distill everything down to numbers and time metrics are destroying that relationship in the name of profitability. This must stop immediately. Employers should ensure supervisors clearly understand the covenantal pharmacist–patient relationship and that systems support this relationship fully. I again call on all employers to act swiftly on these issues that your pharmacy staff has made clear that they will no longer tolerate. The profession and industry need long-term solutions, and we need immediate action.”

 

CVS Called Out

"I’m also calling on CVS/Caremark, Express Scripts, Optum and all other PBM companies to immediately cease the assessment of DIR fees on retail prescriptions and ensure your contracts result in payment to pharmacies of at least their cost for the medicine they are providing plus a reasonable fee for doing so. You are breaking the backs of community pharmacies and are ultimately complicit in the workplace issues I am describing. Your corporate policies are unfair, restrict trade, and are causing the closure of hundreds of pharmacies across America. You are worsening health disparities and creating a new public health emergency. Soon there will be no pharmacies (chain or independent) in most communities to administer vaccines or provide testing for infectious disease," said Hogue.

 

Harassment and Burnout

Hogue also flagged that pharmacists and healthcare workers are facing harassment in the workplace and are suffering from burnout.

"Furthermore, CDC has released the results of a recent survey which shows that incidents of harassment from patients toward healthcare workers have more than doubled from 2018 to 2022. It also tells us that 46% of healthcare workers reported feeling burned out, up from 32% in 2018. A total of 44% of healthcare workers—in that same survey—said they would be looking for a new job, up from 33% in 2018. These numbers are stark and if we don’t get serious about addressing the root causes of these problems, things will only get worse," added Hogue.