“There’s a lack of access to physicians,” Shoppers president Jeff Leger says. “One in five Canadians don’t have access to a primary care provider. There’s lots of great solutions, but they take time to mature, and get more doctors. So people are turning to pharmacists and other professionals to help fill those gaps.”
The people who fixed the price of your bread are now practicing disaster capitalism on our healthcare.
Hundreds of Loblaw’s own pharmacists have told the country’s largest pharmacy regulator that they have felt pressure to put the bottom line ahead of patient care.
Shockingly, they aren't even doing a good job at it.
What's funny about that is that hiring more staff was actually something they could do to avoid paying taxes because salaries are an expense. It reduced your taxable income, as did reinvesting in equipment.
Cutting taxes meant that they could hire less and bank more.
I know this, and you know this, but it's still frustrating.
Hell no - I stopped shopping at Loblaws since the boycott and I haven’t missed Shoppers Drug Mart one bit. I know that Shoppers is only one component of this health care empire but if it’s any indication, I won’t be needing anything else from Per Bank either. 🫡🫡🫡
Honestly the Boycott had me going to my local bakery, butcher and farmers market. In some ways it’s surprisingly cheaper and in some ways it’s a little (and I mean little) bit more expensive but knowing that my money is going to my local community / farmers is 100,000% worth it. Haven’t had to go back since.
Loblaw/Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacists work on quotas, and the pressure to dispense as quickly as possible causes them to miss obvious and serious drug interactions. The quota system for prescriptions is an actual pressing threat to patient safety.
Oh, and they charge for injecting a vaccine into you (a 3 minute activity and for most vaccines, something you could train a monkey to do). In comparison, independent pharmacists tend not to charge injection fees because they'd rather you come back as a repeat customer than treat you as a cash pig.
How can any Canadian patient trust a company who is STILL being caught for price fixing, gouging shoppers, and lying about why their grocery prices are high?