'Pharmageddon' Could Close Pharmacies: What To Know In CA

CALIFORNIA — Residents of the Golden State who need to get their prescriptions filled could be in for some frustration as hundreds of pharmacists across more than a dozen states participate in the “Pharmageddon” protest of working conditions at CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid drug stores.

Pharmacists in at least 15 states including California are participating in the Pharmageddon sick-out, which is being organized on social media. The pharmacists aren’t asking for better pay, the sticking point in labor protests over the last several months.

Rather, they are asking employers to hire more pharmacy staff and eliminate policies encouraging them to work harder, which they say increases the likelihood of accidental harm to patients, NBC News reported.

Shane Jerominski, an independent pharmacist from Southern California and former Walgreens pharmacist supporting the walkout, told CNBC many of the staff who are planning to walk out appear to be from California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Michigan, Missouri and Indiana.

According to Jerominski, 25 stores closed on Monday in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Texas and Illinois, the New York Times reported. A Walgreens statement obtained by the outlet countered that source's assessment of the situation, saying that only three pharmacies closed and "no more than a handful of pharmacists" walked out.

California-based pharmacist Lannie Duong, a key organizer of the protests, told NBC that members have discussed protesting at Walgreens and CVS corporate headquarters Wednesday.

The temporary closures of CVS and Walgreens locations for the walkouts come at the same time as the closure of more than 30 Rite Aid Pharmacies across California due to the company's bankruptcy. Rite Aid as well as CVS and Walgreens said the rise of Amazon and big-box retailers like Walmart, Target and Costco make filling prescriptions more competitive.

American Pharmacists Association CEO Michael D. Hogue said in a statement Monday that the group stands with the striking pharmacists.

“For far too long, employers have made the situation worse than it needed to be,” he wrote, adding that quotas requiring pharmacists to fill a certain number of prescriptions or administer large numbers of vaccinations are destroying their relationships with patients.

“Supervisors who are not pharmacists do not understand the needs of care teams and make unreasonable demands on time-based productivity,” Hogue said.

Complaints about quotas and inadequate staffing have been common among pharmacists for years, but worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pharmageddon sick-outs started attracting attention when pharmacists at about a dozen CVS pharmacies in the Kansas City, Missouri, area refused to come to work in mid-September.

In statements, spokespeople for both CVS and Walgreens told Reuters the drug store companies are working to resolve the issues with pharmacists. CVS said it is in “continuous two-way dialogue” with pharmacy workers, while Walgreens said it is focusing on recruiting, retaining and rewarding its pharmacy staff.