CVS, one of America’s largest chain drugstores, has recently announced that they will no longer carry tobacco products. This marks a change in policy for the company, now focusing on health care rather than retail sales. Otis W. Brawley of the American Cancer Society commented “If you’re in the business of promoting health and providing health care, it’s very hypocritical to be selling tobacco products. It just doesn’t make sense and in fact is almost a conflict of interest.”
Though this seems like an ethical change meant to attempt to improve the health of Americans, it seems to me a precautionary measure, as local governments are already acting to prevent pharmacies from selling tobacco products. For example, the city of San Francisco has already passed a ban preventing any store with an embedded pharmacy from selling tobacco products.
CVS made $123 billion in 2012, and the estimated loss of $2 billion is a loss they can eat to improve the company’s reputation. By “making” the decision to stop selling tobacco products CVS positions itself as a company that cares about the general health of the nation. In reality, the company is just acting before tobacco products are banned in pharmacies altogether.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/business/cvs-plans-to-end-sales-of-tobacco-products-by-october.html