PillPack, the mail-order pharmacy acquired by Amazon last year, is facing increasing pushback from traditional pharmacies. The company, which organizes pills into packets and stamps them with the time they're to be taken, says pharmacists are disregarding requests to transfer customers' prescriptions to the service.
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As Amazon works to expand its PillPack mail-order pharmacy service, it's running into obstacles from competitors CVS and Walgreens. The pharmacies contend that PillPack is neglecting to obtain proper consent from patients and they are rejecting requests to transfer prescriptions, while PillPack says it's obtaining proper patient approvals and the pharmacy giants are intentionally rejecting or discarding the requests.
Lawsuits filed within the last year accuse PillPack, Amazon's online pharmacy, of invading customers' privacy by calling or texting to solicit business. PillPack says the allegations are false.
With the recent addition of nine state pharmacy licenses, PillPack, an online pharmacy purchased by Amazon in 2018, now holds pharmacy licenses for 19 states, allowing its Arizona facility to ship prescriptions over state lines. The licenses indicate Amazon is ramping up its capabilities to potentially launch prescription drug sales nationwide.
Amazon will acquire PillPack, an online pharmacy with licenses across the US, for an undisclosed amount, the company said Thursday. Last week, CVS unveiled plans to start delivering prescriptions amid rising competition online startups including PillPack and Capsule.
Walmart is in early stage negotiations to acquire PillPack, a pharmacy service and software startup that has raised $118 million in funding, sources said. PillPack sorts pills into packages with date and time stamps for customers who take multiple medications, and it has also developed pharmacy software.