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MAJOR MEETING IN VIRGINIA TONIGHT TO DEBATE FATE OF THE WILDERNESS WAL-MART

• Public gets say on Wal-Mart near Va battlefield [Daily Press (Va.)]
  Hundreds of historians have had their say on Wal-Mart's plans to build a Supercenter near a Civil War battlefield in Virginia.

• Tonight! Orange County will hear your thoughts on Wal-Mart [Free Lance-Star (Va.)]
  Tonight, the Orange County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed Wilderness Wal-Mart.
  

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Originally posted on Huffington Post

Illegal Aliens Deliver Fear & Loathing To Wal-Mart Pharmacies
By Al Norman

One of the world’s largest drug store chains is employing a very unusual---and provocative---method for sourcing its drugs.

This week mighty Wal-Mart found itself at the center of a street-level drug deal that raised larger questions about where and how the retailer gets its cheap drugs.

In June of 2008, I wrote in this space about Wal-Mart’s global sourcing empire for prescription drugs, quoting one pharmaceutical industry analyst as saying, Wal-Mart drugs “come from all over the world. They’re U.S. manufacturers, Israeli and Indian manufacturers. They have a choice of where to buy these drugs.”

But this week, Wal-Mart’s choice of drug vendors made some small town news. The corporation was tight-lipped about a narcotics source that raised lingering questions about where the giant retailer is really getting its cheap drugs, and what product safety and procurement protections are in place at the retailer’s pharmacies. In fact, the whole incident was described by the ABC news affiliate that broke the story as “strange.”

Strange, but also unsettling. ABC 4 News in Cedar City, Utah---a town of roughly 28,000 people---reported that a routine traffic stop of three men led to a bizarre tale of prescription narcotics, illegal couriers, a Las Vegas drug supplier, and the world’s largest retailer.

Diego Jimenez, Maricio Jimenez, and Kyle Gutierrez are being held in a jail in Iron County while local authorities sift through their odd story. Police pulled over their car as it was traveling north on Route 15 just south of 100 miles per hour. The men claim they were hired to deliver prescription drugs to at least three Wal-Mart stores, including the superstore on South Providence Drive in Cedar City, Utah, which has an in-store pharmacy. The three men reportedly had already been to the Wal-Mart supercenter in St. George, Utah, which is south of Cedar City on Route 15, and the Wal-Mart superstore on Route 15 further south in Mesquite, Nevada, on the border with Arizona.

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Below, Al Norman writes on the State of Massachusetts’ multi-million dollar health care handout to Wal-Mart, also published on our Battlemart Blog:

Two years ago, Wal-Mart workers and their children cost the taxpayers of Massachusetts $7.2 million for subsidized health care. A new report released this past week shows that this tax subsidy has more than doubled to $15.5 million. In the middle of one of the worst budget crises in state history, health are welfare for large national chain stores are a drag on the state and federal taxpayer.

On February 12, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that an annual report released by the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, revealed that state taxpayers in the Commonwealth spent $7,223,580.77 to provide subsidized health care insurance for Wal-Mart workers—the highest cost any employer shifted to the state. The study, “The Use of Public Health Assistance in Massachusetts in FY 2006: Employers Who Have Fifty or More Employees Using MassHealth or the Uncompensated Care Pool,” is the third such analysis of employers who have 50 more workers using public health assistance. A state law passed in 2004 requires the state to produce such studies. The report released in 2007 covered the period July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006.

The analysis estimates that in FY 2006, a total of $234.2 million in public funds were spent on health care for employees and their dependents working for employers who had 50 or more employees subsidized by two major state health care programs: Medicaid and the Uncompensated Care Pool. The state reports estimates that a total of 6,070 Wal-Mart employees and dependents are costing state taxpayers $7.223 million a year. Of that total, 1,038 Wal-Mart employees used the Uncompensated Care Pool, 2,079 Wal-Mart employees were on Medicaid, and 2,953 dependents of Wal-Mart employees, mostly children, used benefits paid for by Medicaid. The cost of Wal-Mart dependents alone came to $4,328,155. According to Wal-Mart, the retailer had 10,785 employees in Massachusetts. Using the FY 2006 figure of 3,117 Wal-Mart workers on Medicaid and UCP, that means at least 29% of Wal-Mart’s workforce in the Baystate received their health care subsidized by the public.

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We’ve covered and covered and covered the debate on this one, and finally the long wait is over! The law in question requires a pharmacist to have majority ownership of a pharmacy, so repealing it would have allowed large chains like Wal-Mart, Walgreens, and CVS the opportunity to move in.

Pharmacy bill fails, 57-35 [Bismarck Tribune]

After about an hour of emotional debate, the House voted against a bill today that would have repealed North Dakota’s pharmacy ownership law, 57-35. More updates to come.

So there you go...we’ll let you know when more updates have indeed come.

***Update*** (3:23pm) More coverage - ND House votes to keep pharmacy ownership law [Associated Press]

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**********UPDATE**********
******February 10, 2009******

The North Dakota House Industry, Business and Labor Committee voted 8-5 yesterday to recommend that the full House defeat legislation to repeal the restrictions.

Proponents of the repeal argue that competition will lower drug prices throughout the state, especially with Wal-Mart’s $4 drugs. But opponents say repealing the law would endanger the future of rural pharmacies in small-town North Dakota.

Our original post is below - for more on the update, check out today’s stories in Forbes and the Bismarck Tribune.

***************************

North Dakota legislators have elected to go with the safe answer when asked about a bill that would change pharmacy ownership rules: we have no idea.

That may be oversimplifying, of course, but since little has changed since we first mentioned this piece of legislation last week, I’m satisfied being overly simple. The bill would pave the way for large retailers like Wal-Mart to get into the pharmacy business, a market that has to this point been served by locally-owned businesses.

For more public opinion on the matter, check out this, and this, and this, and this.

Legislators say they haven’t decided to support pharmacy bill [Jamestown Sun]

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The bill is H.B.1440, and if it passes the North Dakota legislature it will allow large chains like Wal-Mart and Walgreens to begin selling prescriptions. As it stands today, pharmacies are required to have pharmacists as their majority owners, eliminating the ability of large pharmacy chains to operate.

The debate, which drew public comments earlier today in a packed auditorium in Bismarck, appears to center on lowering costs and providing more choice. Proponents of the bill believe that changing the North Dakota law will allow large retailers to come in and help lower drug costs, partially due to the introduction of $4 prescriptions. Opponents, however, counter that North Dakota drug costs are already low.

Mike Schwab, a spokesman for the North Dakota Pharmacists Association, said every national study on prescription drugs shows that prices in North Dakota are “well below” the national average. Testimony that prices are high is “technically is not the truth,” he said.

So, if that’s true, the question is whether North Dakota wants to drop its prices even lower at the expense of independent stores. Will an influx of large chains spur competition, or will it simply drive smaller, locally owned stores out of business?

Rep. Arlo Schmidt, D-Maddock, said lawmakers should not be responsible for “pulling the plug” on small town drug stores.

Big drugstore operators take aim at N. Dakota law [Associated Press]

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The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments this week in the case of Cynthia Haddad, a former pharmacist who filed suit alleging that she was the victim of discrimination by Wal-Mart management. To be more specific, after finding out that she was making less than her male counterparts, Haddad asked for a raise and equal bonus - Wal-Mart gave her the bonus, then fired her two weeks later for an incident that had occurred nearly a year and a half before.

In June 2007, Haddad won a $1 million decision, and then the jury added an additional $1 million in punitive damages. Wal-Mart appealed, and while the initial verdict was upheld, the punitive damages were overturned. The Supreme Judicial Court, the highest court in Massachusetts, will hear arguments on the punitive damages Thursday.

Mass. court to weigh Wal-Mart discrimination case [Boston Herald]

BOSTON — The state’s highest court is set to hear arguments this week in the case of a former Wal-Mart pharmacist who claimed she was fired after asking to be paid the same as her male colleagues.

Cynthia Haddad filed the gender discrimination lawsuit after she fired in April 2004 after 10 years at the Pittsfield Wal-Mart.

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Adding to what we discussed might happen in West Virginia, with that state lowering its corporate income tax rate, here are a couple additional nuggets we’ve found for your reading pleasure.

First, in Kentucky, State Reps. Bill Farmer of Lexington and David Floyd of Bardstown are suggesting that now is the time to eliminate the state’s corporate and individual income taxes. Its a funny suggestion on its surface, since, well, lots of states are having a hard time paying for much of anything these days. But there is a method to the madness, and here it is:

The legislation drafted by Reps. Bill Farmer of Lexington and David Floyd of Bardstown would replace the income tax by spreading the sales tax to a host of services that are currently exempt, including plumbing, roofing and other contracting work, and some consulting work. Another huge chunk of change would roll into the state’s bank account by charging 5 percent tax on rent paid for commercial — but not residential — real estate space, according to the 66-page bill.

Since Wal-Mart rents a lot of its properties to...wait for it...itself, could this mean Wal-Mart could potentially be taxed on its own rental fees? Possible, but there would be one sure tax Wal-Mart would have to worry about - under the proposal, Kentucky would collect taxes on charges that stores such as Kroger and Wal-Mart impose on product makers to have special displays at the end of their aisles. The legislation in question is viewed as unlikely to pass this session, but even Democrats in Kentucky have admitted the proposals are something to consider.

House Republicans draft tax reform proposal [Lexington Herald-Leader]

In North Dakota, Wal-Mart is lobbying hard for a bill to repeal a law that requires, with few exceptions, pharmacies be owned at least 51 percent by pharmacists. A repeal of that law would of course open the door for Wal-Mart and other chain pharmacies to waltz right in and start peeling off local drug stores.

Pharmacists and others called “North Dakotans for Prescription Facts” want the law retained, saying it will kill small town pharmacies and hurt personalized service. “North Dakotans for Affordable Health Care,” funded in large part by Wal-Mart and Walgreen’s, wants the law repealed.

N.D. legislative session will have plenty of bread-and-butter issues [Grand Forks Herald]

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In a press release distributed this morning, Wal-Mart has announced that it is “once again driving unnecessary health care costs out of the system and passing the savings along to its customers through the pharmacy aisles.”

How is it doing it this time? By offering exclusive-to-Wal-Mart diabetes management products for $9 each at all Wal-Mart pharmacies nationwide. That, might I say, is quite excellent actually. I myself don’t have - and don’t have immediate family members who have - diabetes. But I’ve known and worked with people who do, and one thing an individual with diabetes shouldn’t have to worry about is the cost of testing and treatment supplies, which I could imagine can get quite expensive.

No, the problem with this story isn’t in what Wal-Mart is announcing. It is, instead, the way in which Wal-Mart has treated its own employees who have diabetes. Helping the masses might seem a little nicer if the company treated its own diabetic employees with slightly more compassion and understanding.

The gold standard of what I’m talking about is the story of Stephen Orr. Orr worked as a pharmacist at a Nebraska Wal-Mart. Orr has Type 1 diabetes, a condition in which the body does not produce insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into the energy needed for daily life. As a result, Orr must administer insulin to himself several times each day. For a while, management allowed him to, you know, do the things he needed to do over the course of a day to stay alive...like actually take a lunch break. Eventually though, business and customer traffic forced Wal-Mart - instead of hiring an additional pharmacist - to inform Orr he could no longer take a break to eat and rest. In fact, he was told to eat behind the pharmacy counter if and when store traffic slowed. If you can’t guess what happened, I’ll tell you - Orr’s blood glucose levels dropped severely on multiple occasions, causing him to experience symptoms of hypoglycemia, which can include dizziness or lightheadedness, confusion, difficulty speaking, and feeling anxious or weak. Wal-Mart still refused to accommodate him, and his manager eventually fired him, explicitly telling him it was because of his diabetes.

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Wal-Mart has, unsurprisingly, been the target of more lawsuits than one can count over the years. The company’s treatment of its workers and “save money at all costs” mentality has resulted in a flood of legal challenges ranging from single plaintiff suits to multi-million dollar class actions. Dukes v. Wal-Mart is of course one large example (the largest class action in American history, actually), as are the myriad wage/hour/overtime class actions the company faces.

At Wal-Mart Watch will be focusing on one of these stories each week, highlighting those cases that warrant further attention because of the light each sheds in its own way on how Wal-Mart does business.

Deborah Metcalf v. Wal-Mart Stores East

In the process of scouring the country searching for egregious examples of Wal-Mart malfeasance, we came across this interesting little case filed earlier this year in Oklahoma. On its surface, it’s a retaliatory discharge case – however, the plaintiff here, Deborah Metcalf, was fired for blowing the whistle on what should be considered some pretty repulsive conduct.

Among the many programs funded by the United States Government, we’re going to focus on one in particular – the federal WIC program. WIC stands for Women, Infants, and Children, and is a special supplemental nutrition program funded by grants by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered in Oklahoma by the OK State Department of Health. Basically, WIC provides food and education to low-income women, infants and children deemed eligible for the program. The program’s website tagline delivers the following:

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children - better known as the WIC Program - serves to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, & children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care.

Deborah Metcalf, at the time of her firing, was an employee working at the Wal-Mart Pharmacy located within store #47 in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. In 2001, the Sallisaw Wal-Mart became a participant in the WIC program. Before we go any further, perhaps a little more information is needed on how the WIC program works:

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WORKERS’ RIGHTS DEFENDANTS ASK FEC TO INVESTIGATE WAL-MART
Anyone who reads our blog regularly has undoubtedly already seen this article. Here are some reactions to it from the blogosphere.

Tell the FEC to Investigate Wal-Mart for Electioneering [ZP Heller on the Huffington Post]

Wal-Mart must be forced to set a better example regarding labor practices.  And here’s our chance to make them by signing American Rights at Work’s petition.  If Wal-Mart broke the law by threatening and scaring employees about which candidates to vote for this November, compel the FEC to hold the company accountable.

Unions strike back at Wal-Mart [BloggingStocks]

Why is Wal-Mart set to pick a fight with the Democrats? Don’t the folks in Bentonville read the political tea leaves? Odds are pretty good that the country will go Blue in a big way. Maybe the company is worried that the good times reflected in today’s results won’t last.

Wal-Mart: Political Bully [Alternet]
For years, Wal-Mart has been plagued by bad press. Now it has to fend off a Wall Street Journal report that it’s been politically bullying its employees. ANP headed over to a Wal-Mart in Virginia to ask shoppers what they think.

Wal-Mart busted on video for lying to employees about their rights [The G Spot]

It’s unclear whether Wal-Mart will face any legal consequences for the lies they told. But the Journal article notes that action has been taken on another front: labor groups have filed a complaint against Wal-Mart with the Federal Elections Commission. They’re asking the commission to investigate whether the meetings Wal-Mart organized around the country warning thousands of employees about the consequences of electing a Democratic president violated the law (you can find the complaint here). Will the F.E.C. take action? It seems like there’s a decent shot they might.

After the jump, life as a Wal-Mart pharmacist, Sam’s Club’s dubious green claims and design wonks hold their own Wal-Mart redesign contest.

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Wal-Mart spokeswoman Daphne Moore has been a busy woman recently after having to comment on yet another legal verdict handed down against the retailer.

“We believe in respecting the dignity of every individual and do not tolerate any form of discrimination,’’ spokeswoman Daphne Moore said in a phone interview.

A three-judge panel in New York saw it differently, upholding part of a $7.5 million award given to Patrick Brady, a former Wal-Mart employee who claimed Wal-Mart gave him a less-desirable job because he has cerebral palsy. Brady had worked for two years at another pharmacy before getting a job as a pharmacy assistant at the Centereach Mall Wal-Mart in 2002. On his second day on the job at Wal-Mart, however, Brady was transferred to another position picking up garbage and bringing in shopping carts from the parking lot.

Brady was originally awarded $7.5 million in damages, included $5 million in punitive damages, in 2005. His final judgment, per the Americans with Disabilities Act and New York state law, has been reduced to $900,000.

Wal-Mart Loses Appeal, Must Pay $900,000 to Worker [Bloomberg]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the biggest U.S. private employer, lost its appeal of a jury verdict in a discrimination case and was ordered to pay $900,000 in damages.

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Fifteen in-store Wal-Mart clinics unexpectedly shut down in Colorado on Friday, raising yet more questions about the hotly-debated facilities. The clinics were run by SmartCare, an independent clinic operator, and located in Wal-Mart stores across the state of Colorado. Neither Wal-Mart nor SmartCare gave reason for the unexpected closures.

This isn’t the first time Wal-Mart clinics have closed suddenly. In January, Wal-Mart clinic operator CheckUps shuttered all 23 of its Wal-Mart locations almost overnight. The company disappeared so quickly many of its staff were left unpaid. Amidst these troubles, Wal-Mart has also tried to open clinics under its own name, but with little success. The clinics - to be run by staff from Arkansas’ St. Vincent’s hospital - were slated to open in April 2008, but have yet to do so.

The sudden closings do little to allay consumers’ worries about the clinics. The Illinois State Medical Society expressed concerns in May, 2007, that the clinics are unregulated and unlicensed. Others raise issues with the clinic operators’ lack of experience in the medical field. The recent closings only serve to enhance the clinics’ “fly-by-night” reputation.

Making health care more accessible is important, but the quality of that health care is critical. As Wal-Mart expands its health care offerings and does more to keep employee health care expenses in-house, will doing things on-the-cheap really cut it?

SmartCare closes 15 Wal-Mart med clinics [Rocky Mountain News]

SmartCare Family Medical Centers on Friday unexpectedly shut its 15 in-store health clinics located in Wal-Mart stores throughout Colorado.

Wal-Mart had no prior notice, company spokesman William Wertz said.

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Wal-Mart offers more low-priced drugs [Reuters]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Monday said it has expanded its low-priced drug program, and will now offer certain 90-day generic prescriptions for $10 and sell more than 1,000 over-the-counter medicines for $4 or less.

Starting on Monday, the world’s largest retailer said that pharmacies at its discount stores, its Neighborhood Markets, and its Sam’s Club warehouse locations will fill prescriptions for up to 350 generic medications for $10 for a 90-day supply.

It also said its Wal-Mart Stores and Neighborhood Markets will sell more than 1,000 over-the-counter items for $4 or less without a prescription.

Wal-Mart has been working to expand its health and wellness services, which are seen as a way to drive shoppers into its stores more frequently and boost sales.

In 2006, it began selling certain generic drugs for $4 per monthly prescription, and it is also opening in-store health clinics.

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WAL-MART ON THE GREEN WARPATH
It was a big week for Wal-Mart’s environmental campaign. The company announced a new carbon measuring program for its suppliers, AND Lee Scott spoke with President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiatives Annual Meeting. Clinton gushed about Wal-Mart’s environmentalism; bloggers were more skeptical.

We’ll Drink Beer for the Cause [Grist]

Unrelenting in its quest for eco-domination, Wal-Mart has announced a plan to keep tabs on some suppliers’ energy efficiency. Through a partnership with the Carbon Disclosure Project, Wal-Mart will request emissions data from about 30 companies that collectively supply DVDs, toothpaste, soap, milk, beer, vacuum cleaners, and soft drinks. (Sure they’re all commonly used, but—random, anyone?) The project is very much a wee first step, as Wal-Mart has about 68,000 suppliers; the company has not yet determined whether it will use the information gleaned to actually demand that suppliers reduce emissions.

Clinton Global Initiative: Bill and Al, reunited at least [Grist]

Lee Scott, for his part, announced that Wal-Mart would reach its goal of selling 100 million compact fluorescent bulbs by the end of the year. Nice and all, but it seems to me that Wal-Mart should pledge to only sell compact fluorescent bulbs.

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New legislation, set to be introduced by Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen, would allow states to use their purchasing power to negotiate drug discounts for low-wage workers in much the same way as they do for people on Medicaid. The program would cover those with no drug coverage and incomes less than the federal poverty level, as well as those with insurance but limited or no prescription drug coverage and the elderly on Medicare whose coverage runs out.

Attempts have been made in the past to ease the prescription drug burden on low-wage workers, including failed attempts at laws forcing drug makers to cut prices, and fair share bills aimed at requiring large employers such as Wal-Mart to provide health insurance to employees.

Wal-Mart introduced its $4 generic drug program in 2006, allowing consumers to buy certain generic prescription drugs at lower prices. While that program covers approximately three hundred drugs, many of which are different generic versions of the same drug, Van Hollen’s bill would provide patients with a discount card that could then presumably be presented at pharmacies towards the purchase of any prescription.

Bill Would Let States Force Drug Discounts [The Washington Post]

U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen is preparing legislation that would allow states to make prescription drugs more affordable for low- and moderate-income Americans, a challenge to Bush administration policies that have thwarted such efforts in Maryland and elsewhere.

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“AMA Wants Probe of Store Clinics” [Associated Press via Forbes]

The American Medical Association wants authorities to investigate whether quickie retail-based health clinics run by pharmacy chains pose conflicts of interest that put profits ahead of patient health.

The nation’s largest physicians’ group on Monday adopted a resolution vowing to seek an investigation after several AMA doctors complained that the clinics interfere with the traditional practice of medicine.

The AMA wants state and federal agencies to look into whether pharmacy chain-owned clinics located in the stores urge patients to get their prescriptions filled on site, which the AMA maintains would pose a conflict. It also said that insurance companies should be banned from waiving or lowering co-payments only for patients who get treatment at store-based clinics.

A spokesman for Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreen Co., which operates 63 clinics in its stores in six states, said customers aren’t steered to Walgreen pharmacies, and are allowed to get prescriptions filled wherever they choose.

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[From WWAY NewsChannel 3 in Wilmington, North Carolina]

She says a pharmacy foul-up is causing her to go blind. Now a Southport woman is taking on a big business.

For three straight days Gracie page has affixed herself to a sign of protest.

She says it’s time the little people stand up to big corporations.

Page said, “You can’t knock the little fellow down and keep going.”

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Wal-Mart’s recent announcement that it plans to introduce 400 new in-store health clinics over the next several years has raised concerns throughout the medical community. In a release issued today, the Illinois State Medical Society insists that poorly-regulated health clinics operating without permits or government oversight - as Wal-Mart’s health clinics currently do - pose a sizeable risk to public health. This in addition to the fact that the clinics are often operated by companies of questionable medical expertise. From the Chicago Tribune:

Doctors push law on clinics in stores

The Illinois State Medical Society, which represents more than 13,000 doctors, is pushing a proposed law to more closely monitor hundreds of in-store clinics being opened by retail giants Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Walgreen Co. and CVS/Caremark Corp.

The doctors claim the clinics, staffed by advanced-degree nurses and physicians’ assistants, are largely unregulated and therefore put patients’ health at risk.

The Illinois group said it also will lobby for federal laws aimed at increasing regulation of the clinics at the annual American Medical Association meeting next month in Chicago.

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CNBC discusses Wal-Mart’s corporate spying controversy, new emergency contraception regulations for pharmacists.