Lehan Drugs to close DeKalb pharmacy; home medical equipment service to continue

DeKALB – The longtime multigenerational family business Lehan Drugs will close its DeKalb pharmacy service this month, although it will continue to supply home medical equipment to clients, owner and CEO Jon Lehan said.

Lehan Drugs first opened its doors to patients in 1946 and has since expanded into multiple locations across northern Illinois. Its only pharmacy is in DeKalb, however. Although the pharmacy services will cease after Sept. 11, home medical equipment supplies and its other locations in Rockford, Freeport, Dixon and Aurora will remain open. Its DeKalb home base, 1407 S. Fourth St., also will remain open to supply medical equipment.

“We’re proud of our long history serving the DeKalb community and how our family business has grown over the years to include pharmacy services and home medical equipment,” Lehan said in an email to Shaw Local News Network on Thursday. “Treating each of our patients with personal attention and care remains our standard and the hallmark of our family business.”

Lehan Drugs will transfer its prescription services to Walgreens, effective Sept. 12. Home medical equipment including CPAP machines, oxygen tanks, breast pumps, walkers, wheelchairs and other items will remain available to customers at all six locations in Illinois and Wisconsin, according to a statement provided by Lehan.

Current clients can have their prescriptions filled at Lehan Drugs through Sept. 11. Customers are urged to call Lehan at 815-758-0913 if they have questions or concerns.

“We know this is a difficult time for our employees and patients as we navigate this transition,” the company said in the statement. “We have proudly served as DeKalb’s hometown pharmacy since 1946. Sadly, we could no longer sustain the downward pressure on reimbursement for medications from pharmacy benefit managers. Walgreens has been a tremendous partner in fighting against PBM abuses on a national level and does not own a PBM like some of their competitors.”

What are pharmacy benefit managers? What role do they play for independent pharmacies?

Lehan said there’s a national crisis facing independent pharmacies and pointed to what he called PBMs – middleman agencies that have come under increased scrutiny in recent years for pushing profit over patients.

In July, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission published a report that alleged how prescription drug middlemen profit at patients’ expense by inflating drug costs and negatively affecting accessibility and affordability of needed prescription drugs for people across the country.

According to the FTC report, six middleman companies – Caremark Rx LLC, Express Scripts Inc., OptumRx Inc., Humana Pharmacy Solutions Inc., Prime Therapeutics LLC and MedImpact Healthcare Systems Inc. – manage almost 95% of all prescriptions filled in the U.S. The three largest are owned by health care giants CVS Health, Cigna and UnitedHealth Group, The New York Times reported.

A New York Times investigation published in June reported that while PBMs are meant to reduce drug costs for patients, they often do the opposite.

PBMs will negotiate drug prices, often pointing patients to pricier options and also impose hidden fees. The New York Times reported that PBMs also are responsible for paying pharmacies. That’s something that has fallen short at Lehan Drugs, Lehan said.

“The FTC’s interim report lays out how dominant pharmacy benefit managers can hike the cost of drugs – including overcharging patients for cancer drugs,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a news release. “The report also details how PBMs can squeeze independent pharmacies that many Americans – especially those in rural communities – depend on for essential care. The FTC will continue to use all our tools and authorities to scrutinize dominant players across health care markets and ensure that Americans can access affordable health care.”

Independent pharmacies such as Lehan Drugs often are at the mercy of middleman companies, according to the FTC report. That’s because they impose “unfair, arbitrary and harmful contractual terms that can impact independent pharmacies’ ability to stay in business and serve their communities,” according to the FTC.

Costs of needed, and often lifesaving, prescription drugs have become an increasing burden to Americans. In 2022, U.S. prices for both brand-name and generic prescription drugs were almost three times as high as prices in 33 other countries, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Federal legislation this year has tried to alleviate some of that burden, especially for elderly Americans often on fixed incomes.

The issue has taken its fair share of airtime on the campaign trail leading up to the presidential election in November. In August, President Joe Biden announced that his administration had successfully negotiated with Medicare to lower the prices of 10 drugs.

Discounts for a 30-day supply of drugs – including diabetes medication NovoLog and Januvia, heart medication Farxiga, Stelara used to treat Crohn’s disease, blood pressure medication Entresto, stroke medication Xarelto, blood thinner Eliquis and cancer drug Imbruvica – range from 37% to 79%, according to AARP.

Some still carry a hefty price tag, however. The listing price for a 30-day supply of Stelara was $13,836. The negotiated new price is $4,695. Imbruvica, often given to patients with leukemia, was listed as $14,934 for a 30-day supply. The discounted price is $9,319, according to AARP.

For Lehan Drugs in DeKalb, that price tag became too much, leading to a difficult decision for the long-standing family business.

“It has been our honor to serve you and your families for four generations of Lehan’s pharmacists,” the company said in a statement.

This story was updated at 7:55 p.m. Sept. 10, 2024, to correct an earlier version which misstated the final day Lehan Drugs is running prescriptions. Customers can utilize the pharmacy through Sept. 11.