CVS Drops 2 Dozen Drugs, Including Viagra, From Its Approved List For 2016
BURBANK (CBSLA.com) — Need Viagra?
Some customers won't be getting that from CVS in 2016.
The drug giant has announced they are not providing more than two dozen prescription drugs next year.
KCAL9's Erica Nochlin reports why some customers will be affected and why some might be blue that that will no longer be able to get their little blue pill.
CVS, the nation's second-largest pharmacy brand manager, said it will drop the drugs from its CVS Caremark benefit insurance.
The list includes Viagra as well as many widely prescribed drugs for diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
In the case of Viagra, CVS will only cover that drug's main competitor, Cialis.
Local pharmacist Janet Chin doesn't like not having a choice for customers.
"I can say clinically, I don't like restricting patients," says Chin.
The pharmacist, while not a fan of the move, says she can understand how it will streamline workflow and cut costs.
She also believes that many drugs in the same class can be substituted easily. But there are also some patients who might have a differing result after taking the new medications.
"There are some patients that might have some small reaction to one brand versus the next," Chin said.
Changes medications is also unsettling for many older patients, she believes, who are used to taking a certain pill of a size and shape.
"You change even the manufacturers within that same medication and they start to kind of panic, they'll call you, you gave me the wrong medication," Chin said.
CVS says even the drugs they don't approve will still be available at their stores. But, keep in mind, if you want the brand you are used to and it's not on the approved list, you will pay out of pocket.
In a statement, CVS said, "For those drugs that are removed, equally effective products with lower overall costs remain available."
CVS says it will start notifying members and doctors this fall and will follow-up with support calls to try and ease the transition.
