The Tribune-Democrat: Real consequences when pharmacies close

By Jennifer Riley, Patients Come First Pennsylvania Executive Director

The recent article on Martella’s Pharmacy should concern every family in our region, but sadly, this isn’t an isolated story. It’s happening to pharmacies all across Pennsylvania.

Community pharmacies are being squeezed by pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs that have extraordinary control over prescription drug access. 

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the top six PBMs processed more than 90% of the approximately 6.6 billion prescriptions dispensed by U.S. pharmacies. That kind of market power has real consequences for patients and local pharmacies.

In Pennsylvania, those consequences are already showing. The Department of State reported that more than 620 pharmacies closed between October 2023 and November 2025. 

Read the full LTE in The Tribune-Democrat here.