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CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid are closing stores across the U.S. Here's how 'pharmacy deserts' can impact your health.

The national pharmacy chain Rite Aid has filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to close unprofitable stores and deal with debt of about $4 billion. The company said in court filings that it plans to shutter an unspecified number of stores across 17 states.

But Rite Aid is far from the only major pharmacy chain facing closures. Walgreens and CVS have collectively closed more than 1,000 stores across the country since 2018. Independent pharmacies are also struggling to stay afloat: The number of these stores dropped by 50% from 1980 to 2022, according to a report from McKinsey.

This trend has been happening for years: Nearly 1 out of every 8 pharmacies closed between 2009 and 2015, according to a JAMA Internal Medicine study.

What do all these closures mean for people who depend on these pharmacies, and what options do you have if your local pharmacy closes? Doctors break it down.

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https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/cvs-wal ... 01871.html

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Exxon aims to become a top lithium producer for electric vehicles with Arkansas drill operation

Source: CNBC

Published Mon, Nov 13 2023 8:00 AM EST

Exxon Mobil aims to become a leading producer of lithium for electric vehicle batteries through a drilling operation the oil giant is launching in Arkansas, the company announced Monday.

Exxon earlier this year purchased 120,000 acres of a geological site in southern Arkansas called the Smackover Formation that is rich in lithium.

The company will start producing battery-grade lithium at the site as soon as 2027, and aims to supply enough of the mineral to support the manufacture of one million electric vehicles annually by 2030. Discussions with potential customers such as electric vehicle and battery manufacturers are ongoing, Exxon said in a statement.

The lithium operation comes as the the major oil companies are under pressure to address climate change. While Shell and BP have focused on renewables such as wind and solar, Exxon is investing $17 billion through 2027 to reduce emissions with a focus on carbon capture, hydrogen and biofuels.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/13/exxon-t ... ansas.html

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Next generation of billionaires collect more wealth from inheritance than work, says UBS

Thu 30 Nov 2023 08.00 GMT

Newly minted billionaires have collected more of their wealth from the deaths of relatives than through their own work and entrepreneurship, according to a Swiss bank favoured by the super-rich.

Of the 137 people who became billionaires in the 12 months to this April, 53 inherited a combined $150.8bn (£119bn) from their family, the report by UBS found. This exceeds the combined $140.7bn created by “84 new self-made” billionaires over the same period.

The bank said it was the first time in the nine-year history of its annual report on the fortunes of the richest 0.00004% of society that “the next generation of billionaires accumulated more wealth through inheritance than entrepreneurship”.

Benjamin Cavalli, the head of strategic clients at UBS Global Wealth Management, said: “This is a theme we expect to see more of over the next 20 years, as more than 1,000 billionaires pass an estimated $5.2tn to their children.”

The report said the “growing significance of these families can be seen across all major geographical regions”. In Asia-Pacific, inheritors’ average wealth was $2bn compared with $1.6bn for entrepreneurs. In the Americas, the inheritors were worth $2.2bn versus the entrepreneurs’ $1.5bn. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the inheritors’ average wealth of $4.4bn – twice the entrepreneurs’ $2.2bn.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/n ... n-work-ubs

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Rite Aid closing more locations: 31 additional stores to be shuttered.

Source: USA Today

Published 4:46 p.m. ET Nov. 29, 2023 | Updated 5:40 p.m. ET Nov. 29, 2023

Pharmacy chain Rite Aid is shuttering an additional 31 stores in a dozen states, according to a recent bankruptcy court filing.

The company announced more than 150 other store closures last month when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A Wednesday news release said it operates more than 2,300 retail pharmacy locations across 17 states.

Rite Aid spokesperson Catherine Carter said the stores that will be closing have been underperforming and will be closed “to further reduce rent expense and strengthen overall financial performance.” The company plans to give workers at closing stores the option to transfer to other locations.

Rite Aid, one of the largest pharmacy chains in the country, filed for bankruptcy in October as it faced slumping sales and more than a thousand federal, state and local lawsuits accusing it of fueling the opioid epidemic by illegally filling painkiller prescriptions.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/sh ... 744831007/

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