North Dakota keeps Pharmacy Ownership Law

(Drug Topics)North Dakota legislators have rejected an attempt to open the state’s pharmacy business to large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Walgreens, and Target.

Legislators defeated a proposed repeal of the state’s 40-year-old law that requires pharmacies in the state be majority-owned by a pharmacist. House Bill 1440 was defeated with a 57 to 35 vote.

“Trust the people of North Dakota,” said Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Rugby, who favored repeal and more choice for North Dakotans in where to shop for prescriptions. “Let the people decide. Nobody’s forcing anyone to do anything different,” he said.

CVS, a national chain, operates in North Dakota as a successor to Osco Drug chain of stores that was “grandfathered in” when the ownership law was passed in the 1960s. The law is unique in the nation and explains why Wal-Mart, Walgreens, and Target do not have pharmacies in their stores in North Dakota, where they would sell many of their prescriptions for $4 each. Pharmacists and defenders of the law said North Dakota’s average prescription cost is $65 compared to $69 nationwide.

“I don’t think we should be ashamed of the North Dakota way,” said Rep. George Keiser, R-Bismarck.
Lawmakers voted 57-35 to defeat a proposal to repeal the law, the strictest pharmacy-ownership law in the nation.