Amazon launches online pharmacy, prescription delivery service
17 November 2020
Amazon launched Amazon Pharmacy on Tuesday, which will allow U.S. customers to order prescription medications without leaving their homes.
Why it matters via Axios' Dan Primack: With the pharmaceutical business going digital, this could create a major challenge for companies like CVS and Walgreens, whose stocks stumbled this morning after Amazon's announcement.
- Amazon's jump into the pharmaceutical business, along with its involvement in grocery shopping, could make shoppers replace their shopping needs using Amazon alone, which could potentially affect retailers who also provide pharmacy services, like Walmart and Target.
The big picture: The launch comes as Americans continue to rely on getting medications mailed amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to CNBC, this could become a permanent shift.
Worth noting: We could have seen this coming when Amazon bought mail-order pharmacy startup PillPack in 2018.
- Amazon said PillPack will continue to serve customers after Amazon Pharmacy launches since it is designed to serve those who take multiple prescriptions for chronic conditions.
Details: Amazon said that most insurance is accepted, but Amazon Prime members can access savings on medications even without insurance.
- Customers can add their insurance information, manage prescriptions, and choose payment options before checking out, with Prime members receiving unlimited free delivery.
- Doctors can send prescriptions directly to Amazon Pharmacy for fulfilment.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.