Today’s Big Story

Drug Store Deserts

CVS and Walgreens are ailing as pharmacies struggle to define a new role

Don’t take your local drugstore for granted. There’s no guarantee that it will be around forever. CVS recently announced it is closing 900 stores. Rite-Aid is closing 500. Walgreens announced Tuesday it plans to shutter 1,200 stores—meaning one in seven will disappear. So what’s going on with America’s pharmacies?

CNN points to shifting consumer habits, competition and changes in the pharmacy industry. And the fact that Walgreens and other chains overexpanded during the 1990s and 2000s to drive out competitors and draw more customers. Currently, around 25% of Walgreens’ stores aren’t profitable, CEO Tim Wentworth said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in June, and the chain will look to close stores that are right by one another or struggling to hold down theft.

Experts tell CNBC that the retail pharmacy model has been squeezed by complicated and sometimes lower reimbursement rates for medication while competition for sales of candy and paper towels, items that used to pad profits, has grown more fierce. And as drug stores close, communities find themselves in “pharmacy deserts” with nowhere to go.

Of course, the companies are also saddled with numerous government fines and a particularly ailing relationship with health insurers. At a time when the federal government is suing the primary drug market’s middlemen, the pharmacy benefit managers—with the Federal Trade Commission alleging inflated prices on drugs like insulin—some are pointing the finger at the Pharmacy Benefits Managers for the so called pharmacy deserts. Miranda Rochol, senior vice president of provider solutions at healthcare technology company Prescryptive Health, says that “PBMs can steer patients into their own pharmacies, drive profit to their pharmacies, and under-pay community pharmacies.”

In June, the FTC issued a scathing report about PBMs and the “squeezing” of Main Street pharmacies caused by decades of mergers and acquisitions. According to the FTC, the three largest PBMs control nearly 80% of all prescriptions filled in the United States, negotiating the terms and conditions for access to prescription drugs for hundreds of millions of Americans. The report blames falling reimbursement rates from PBMs for many of the financial troubles of smaller pharmacies.

FCC Takes Aim at Broadband Data Caps

The commission is still taking comments from the public about how much data you really use

The Federal Communications Commission is officially looking into broadband data caps and their impact on consumers. On Tuesday, the FCC approved a notice of inquiry to examine whether data caps harm consumers and competition, as well as why data caps persist “despite increased broadband needs” and the “technical ability to offer unlimited data plans,” as spotted earlier by Engadget.

Many internet plans come with a data cap that limits how much bandwidth you can use each month. If you go over the data cap, internet service providers will typically charge an extra fee or slow down your service. The FCC first started inviting consumers to comment on broadband data caps last June, hundreds of which you can now read on the agency’s website. According to The Verge, you can still share your experience with broadband data caps with the FCC through an online form, which will ask for details about the name of your ISP, usage limits, and any challenges you’ve encountered due to the cap.

As numerous industries have pivoted to streaming—from movies to video games—over physical media, these data caps become more and more of a concern from those forced to deal with them. As Mashable points out, the changes that rapidly occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as live video classes for children over Zoom, further exacerbated the issue.

Long-Awaited Grand Egyptian Museum Opens

Well, partially opens … for a trial run

A highly anticipated museum housing the world's largest collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts has opened the doors—at least, to some of its galleries. More than 20 years in the making, the sprawling 120-acre Grand Egyptian Museum near the pyramids of Giza, will showcase more than 100,000 objects, including treasures from the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

The mega-project, which has cost well over $1 billion so far, opened the halls Wednesday, said Al-Tayeb Abbas, assistant to the minister of antiquities. They’re already expecting to greet upwards of 4,000 visitors per day. The displays across the 12 halls tap into issues related to society, religion and doctrine in ancient Egypt, he added. The open-style halls have been classified by dynasty and historical order, and will showcase thousands of artifacts.

Although they may not be able to admire all of the museum’s highlights in a single day, Artnet reports that visitors will be able to get up close and personal with some of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. Aside from your usual sarcophagi, there are statues depicting the “elite of the king”, or high-ranking government bureaucrats, generals, and priests who served in the Egyptian court, not to mention the world’s only hanging obelisk, which can be found near the museum’s front façade.

The Astronaut Wears Prada?

The Italian fashion house designed NASA’s newest spacesuits

"We are witnessing the beginning of a new era, as the internet was in the 1980s. Today access to space is still something for the few, but just as in computing, in a few years prices will come down. Everyone should indulge in the beauty of an adventure." So said Lorenzo Bertelli, chief marketing officer of Prada, today at the International Astronautical Congress 2024 in Milan, Italy. Yes, that's right, Prada at the International Astronautical Congress.

Bertelli was excitedly referring to the reveal of the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU)—the fashion house's collaborative spacesuit design with Houston-based startup Axiom Space, which will be used for NASA's Artemis 3 mission to the moon planned for 2026. Our astronauts will do space in style. Although conspicuously free of branding or logos, the designs do include red accent lines across the forearms, waist and “portable life system backpacks”, which nod to Prada’s sub-brand, Linea Rossa.

Designed for greater flexibility, efficiency, and safety, AxEMU incorporates specialized tools for exploration of the lunar south pole, where the temperature range can be extreme and the regolith, thin as talcum powder, adheres to every surface, creeping into every crevice. The suit is able to tolerate the extreme temperatures of the lunar south pole and the harsh climate of permanently shaded regions for at least two hours, and can handle at least eight hours of extravehicular activities.

The Long Read

While Kamala Harris courts female voters on “Call Her Daddy,” Donald Trump is doubling down on his appeals to terminally online young men

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