The United States is a country that, for better or for worse, has very different aspects from us. One of them, and one that has always caught my attention when seeing it in movies and television series (I have not had the pleasure of visiting it yet) is the possibility of buy certain medicines in supermarkets, like the one who goes and buys a can of tuna. However, now Amazon wants to go one step further and become a kind of online pharmacy.
Indeed, just as the sales giant began by selling books online and now even allows you to fill your shopping cart with cleaning products and food, Amazon's plans continue to be to expand the business in order to provide you with the medicines your doctor has prescribed.
Amazon, the next online pharmacy?
Thus, the time could come when, instead of going down to the pharmacy, we can order our prescription drugs on Amazon along with food, technology products and other products from the most varied categories. According says CNBC, the e-commerce giant is thinking of getting into the pharmacy business. Eric French, Amazon's head of grocery department, reportedly increased the hiring of staff for the project called "healthcare" last year, while consulting with "dozens of people."
Some months ago, CNBC reported that Amazon had hired Mark Lyons of the non-profit health insurance company Premier Blue Cross, to create an internal pharmacy benefit manager. And it could be that the success of this project determines whether or not Amazon continues with its plans.
And although the decision could come sooner than expected, home delivery of medicines might not be that close since it requires having experts in the supply chain of medicines. Thus, some analysts speak of one or two years before the company can announce its new activity, which could even be carried out in association with a drug distributor. And that in the United States because for the rest of the world like Spain, gentlemen pharmacists, you can be calm and we, wait seated.
Amazon=Skynet