Dear Supporters,
We are thankful to announce that we have a small handful of national organizations or associations that will be joining us for a peaceful demonstration at Express Scripts headquarters on May 17, 2024 from 9 AM to 1 PM. We will be outreaching to more advocacy groups throughout the week.
Many may know Express Scripts as a mail order pharmacy, but Express Scripts is also a pharmacy benefit manager or PBM. PBMs often steer patients to their own mail order pharmacies, sometimes leaving their own mail order pharmacies as the only option of coverage. PBMs also oversee reimbursements of their competitors, reimbursing many purposefully below their cost of medications to the point they close. It is estimated that 30% of small locally owned pharmacies will close this year across the US, not because America doesn't use or want their local pharmacies but due to the greed and monopolistic practices of PBMs.
So again, I invite all who can attend from patients, caregivers, community members, physicians, pharmacists, students, advocates, & advocacy organizations.
I started Unite For Safe Medications soon after starting this petition, because I saw so many suffering and complaining online about many pharmacy and medication access issues. We have the number of people to create change, but we need to bravely stand united together to demand it.
Each person that attends will attend in place of hundreds or thousands who feel too afraid of retaliation, silenced, or oppressed.
My last update mentioned that many pharmacy students and pharmacists stated that they feared retaliation for attending. For those who fear, know that one group that will be joining us will be wearing facemasks as robbers. This can help conceal the faces of those who wish to attend but fear retaliation. When I joined the chain pharmacists at Walgreens advocating for safe staffing, all pharmacists wore something to conceal their identity such as wigs, hats, or sunglasses. The reporters were shocked as they had not seen this at the United Autoworkers protests or even at places such as Kaiser where nurses were advocating for safe staffing.
What retaliation do pharmacists and pharmacy students fear? This week, I spoke at the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy on temperature issues with mail order pharmacy. Someone on X, formerly Twitter, stated "Good luck with the investigation that they start against your license." They assumed that I was a pharmacist. The most beautiful thing is that I'm not a pharmacist. I can speak openly and freely to the State Boards of Pharmacy without fearing my license being revoked by Boards of Pharmacy members that belong to the corporate pharmacies or pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs (Optum RX, CVS Caremark, & Express Scripts) that I fight against.
I don't have to fear retaliation from the pharmacy benefit managers that oversee 80% percent of my income through reimbursements from insurance companies & have the ability to perform audits that would result in financial penalties for speaking up.
I don't have to fear being unable to find employment from the corporations monopolizing the industry.
When we look at how this situation got so overlooked for so long, this is why.
Pharmacists and Board of Pharmacy members that so courageously speak up for patients do so risking it all.
I only dream that more people from our communities & patients and caregivers who are able would come together and be strong and be brave and speak up, not just for themselves but to save pharmacy and safe medication access.
If we don't, America's safe pharmacy & medication access will continue to be stripped away.
Thank you for your support, & we hope that I get to see you there!
**If you cannot attend, please send a photo of you holding up a sign in support and/or brief message in support. We will share these on social media on the day of the protest. You can email those to loretta@uniteforsafemeds.com
Loretta Boesing, Patient Advocate