Health care access is an important issue in today’s America. Billions of dollars are poured into the industry every year – dollars spent to develop pharmaceutical wonders for every ache and pain. The question is who controls access to health care products and are they distributed fairly?
Communities are supposed to be provided equal access by companies like CVS drug stores. It turns out CVS, the largest supplier of prescription drugs in the United States, operates 37% more stores in white communities than in communities of color. Moreover, CVS stores in low-income areas are more likely to violate local health codes than stores in affluent or mostly white areas. These are discriminatory practices in health care across racial and class lines. That much is not new to me. However, what is new is that CVS is being exposed as a health care supplier that doesn’t care about the communities it serves.
CURE CVS, developed as a direct result of a 14-month investigation of CVS’s discriminatory practices, is a campaign to educate and advocate for equal access to health care.
Today, people will be passing out leaflets in major cities across the nation to warn CVS customers of their notoriously unfair treatment and questionable service. Specifically, this segment of the campaign will focus on expired drugs, food and infant formula. An investigation recently found over 142 expired products in CVS stores across New York State alone. The expired products ranged from milk to infant formula to pharmaceutical drugs – all products that have adverse health effects when expired.
CURE CVS campaign has also focused on CVS’s chain lockup of condoms. CVS locks up condom cases with chains in low income and communities of color. CVS describes this practice as a means to protect the store against theft. In white affluent communities, condoms are offered on the shelf or over the counter, just as they are in all Walgreens and Rite Aid stores. While CVS is taking heed to protect the company against customer violations, I wonder if they are measuring their actions against their potential repercussions.
HIV/AIDS is the No. 1 killer of black American women between 25 and 34 and rates of infection for Hispanic women are four times those of white women. CVS limits these women access to STD prevention because of the unfounded perception that they may be stolen? Or, are they worried about access for some at the risk of others? Other drug companies rightly value the health of their customers over the unfounded risk of profit loss through theft. Other drug companies make condoms accessible to those who shop in their stores.
CVS is a company that cares more about profit than the health of communities.
CURE CVS is taking action to fight for equal and fair access to CVS. For more on the campaign, please visit: www.CureCVSNow.org.