© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Amazon Wants To Sell You Prescription Medications

Amazon has launched an online pharmacy, sending shares of CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid tumbling.
Steven Senne
/
AP
Amazon has launched an online pharmacy, sending shares of CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid tumbling.

Amazon has launched a pharmacy business, offering to fill prescriptions for delivery by mail.

The retail giant barging in — its biggest foray into health care yet — reverberated through the industry on Tuesday. Shares of CVS were down about 8% at midday, while Walgreens tumbled 9% and Rite Aid 15%.

Prescription drugs are an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars — and more people have turned to ordering medications by mail during the coronavirus pandemic. Analysts say Amazon's move could particularly affect smaller drugstores.

Amazon has eyed this market for a while, also pushing to compete with big-box stores such as Walmart and major pharmacy chains that have long offered home delivery, in some cases same-day. In 2018, Amazon acquired online pharmacy PillPack, which mainly focuses on people who take multiple medications a day.

Now the retailer says its shoppers can order generic and name-brand drugs for delivery within days. That includes common prescriptions such as insulin, inhalers and blood pressure medications. The company says it will not deliver most opioids, which are controlled substances.

Amazon has launched the service for now in 45 states, excluding Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Minnesota. Amazon Pharmacy promises free two-day delivery for members of the company's Prime subscription, which costs $119 a year in the United States.

The retailer says its pharmacy will accept most insurance. But it's also promoting its own discount program for paying subscribers, which Amazon says will apply not only to its marketplace but also at 50,000 other pharmacies nationwide.

Editor's note: Amazon, CVS and Walgreens are among NPR's recent financial supporters.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Alina Selyukh is a business correspondent at NPR, where she follows the path of the retail and tech industries, tracking how America's biggest companies are influencing the way we spend our time, money, and energy.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.