US Food and Drug Administration Inspection of Tobacco Sales to Minors at Top Pharmacies, 2012-2017
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Pharmacies face increasing pressure to abandon tobacco sales, as CVS Health did in September 2014. 1 Although selling tobacco, the leading cause of preventable death and cardiovascular disease, is incongruous with promoting health and wellness, tobacco sales in pharmacies totaled almost $5 billion in 2012. 2 At one pharmacy chain, approximately 1 in 20 customers who filled prescriptions for conditions that are exacerbated by smoking also purchased cigarettes.3 Corporateowned pharmacies also sell cigarettes at significantly lower prices than most other types of tobacco retailers.4 Low prices raise concern about pharmacies as a source of illegal tobacco sales to minors.In 2012, an estimated 7% of youths who smoked reported purchasing cigarettes at pharmacies in the past month.5 For these reasons, we examined the inspections of tobacco sales to minors conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in approximately 13 200 pharmacies in 49 states and Washington, DC, from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2017.a Stopped selling tobacco products on September 3, 2014.US Food and Drug Administration inspections are dated with the decision date of the inspection, not the date the inspection took place; thus, some inspections were not decided until after the end of CVS tobacco sales.jamapediatrics.
Institutions: East Carolina University, Stanford Medicine, Stanford University
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2889627340