CVS Pharmacy Will No Longer Sell Cigarettes

CVS Caremark has announced that it will discontinue the sale of cigarettes and all other tobacco products at the more than 7600 CVS Pharmacy stores in the United States by October 1, 2014.

Larry J. Merlo, president and CEO of CVS Caremark, cited the company’s mission to help reduce chronic disease through the care provided by their pharmacists and nurse practitioners as a major factor in the decision.

"Put simply, the sale of tobacco products is inconsistent with our purpose,” he said. Troyen A. Brennan, MD, MPH, chief medical officer at CVS Caremark, added that although cigarette smoking has decreased significantly since 1965, more interventions may be needed to jumpstart the stalled decreases in the last decade.

"Stopping the sale of cigarettes and tobacco will make a significant difference in reducing the chronic illnesses associated with tobacco use.” Brennan further discussed "the paradox of cigarette sales in pharmacies” in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and co-authored with Steven A. Schroeder, director of the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at the University of California, San Francisco.

In the article, they discuss the recent effort of pharmacies to enter the health care system through the advent of retail health clinics.

“These retail clinics, originally designed to address common acute infections, are gearing up to work with primary care clinicians to assist in treating hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes—all conditions exacerbated by smoking."

In conjunction with this decision, CVS will also begin a national smoking cessation program in the spring, which will include information and programs for patients in their Minute Clinics hoping to quit smoking.

“If people understand that retail outlets that plan to promote health, provide pharmacy services, and house retail clinics are no longer going to sell tobacco products, the social unacceptability of tobacco use will be substantially reinforced,” Brennan concluded.

–Michael Potts

References:

1. Brennan TA, Schroeder SA. Ending Sales of Tobacco Products in Pharmacies. JAMA. Published online February 05, 2014. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.686

2. CVS Caremark to Stop Selling Tobacco at all CVS/pharmacy Locations [press release]. PRNewswire ; Woonsocket, R.I. Feb. 5, 2014.