Steve Spitzer founded his Racine County pharmacies to fight the drug industry. Now he’s selling to Walgreens | Local News

The Pharmacy Station, which has outlets in Burlington, Waterford and Elkhorn, has sold its prescription business to Walgreens, turning over customer accounts to the drugstore giant, which has more than 9,000 locations.

Pharmacy Station customers are saddened and disappointed to see the downfall of a hometown business where they found a familiar face and a helping hand in the often-chaotic world of health care.

“It’s just a shame,” Burlington customer Geri Brady said. “It’s going to be missed greatly.”

Pharmacy Station founder Steve Spitzer said he fought for years to buck the system and to keep prescription prices down. But the rising cost of pharmaceuticals has made it impossible, he said, to protect consumers from being gouged while maintaining a successful business.

The 71-year-old Burlington businessman broke down in tears while discussing the agonizing decision to sell his pharmacies to Walgreens.

“When you spend 40 years of your life building something …,” he said, choking up with emotion as his words trailed off.

“This can’t continue,” he said of the pharmaceutical industry. “It’s going to get worse, until somebody wakes up and controls it.”

Health Care Finance News reported last March that “Inflation-adjusted list prices increased by 159% from 2007 to 2018, while net prices increased 60%.“

The U.S. Prescription drug industry grew from a $2.7 billion a year business in 1960 to $121 billion by 2000; by 2020 it had grown to $358.7 billion, according to reports from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Had the industry grown with the rate of inflation, a $2.7 billion industry in 1960 would have grown to be only $23.77, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Spitzer recalled filling prescriptions in which the medication itself cost less than $50, but the insurance company was collecting more than $5,000.

Effective Jan. 14, the Pharmacy Station stores in Burlington, Waterford and Elkhorn all turned over their pharmacy customer accounts to Walgreens, which already has its own stores operating in those communities.

Officials at the Walgreens corporate office in suburban Chicago could not be reached for comment.

Pharmacy Station customers said they dread the thought of doing business with Walgreens, after growing accustomed to the personal, thoughtful service they said was provided by Spitzer and his employees.

“Nothing against Walgreens or anybody else,” customer Andy Makar said. “But this felt like hometown, like I belonged here.”

Spitzer, who lives in Burlington, started the business in 1982 after graduating from pharmacy school and deciding to open his own place. He purchased an old gas station in Burlington and added a pharmacy — an unusual combination that was reflected in the store’s name.

Without advertising or other overhead, Spitzer was able to offer customers a break on their prescription prices.

As the business grew, Spitzer moved to a new location in Burlington — without a gas station — at 300 S. Pine St. He also added a second location in 1986 at 3 E. Geneva St. in Elkhorn, and another in 1995 at 601 N. Milwaukee St. in Waterford.

Spitzer estimates that the three outlets combined serve about 25,000 customers throughout southeastern Wisconsin.

The stores have expanded to include gifts, jewelry and sporting goods, all of which he hopes to maintain as retail stores. Without pharmacy services, however, he will have to change the business name from Pharmacy Station to something else.

Eric Schmetter, a pharmacist who has worked with Spitzer for about 35 years, said he blames the state of the pharmaceutical industry for the closure of the Pharmacy Station.

Schmetter said he often fills prescriptions that result in earnings to the business that can be counted in pennies rather than dollars.

“We bust our butts every day, and what do we get for it?” he said. Referring to the deal with Walgreens, he said, “I’m angry that we have to do this.”

Spitzer, who has turned over management of the business to his son, Jared Spitzer, said the industry changed as insurance companies took over prescription drug plans for their customers. With each new layer of bureaucracy — from wholesalers to insurers and benefit managers — everyone added new costs and fees that drove up prices, he said.

Despite inflated costs, Spitzer said, providers and regulators set the prices that pharmacists could charge — often requiring pharmacists to take a loss. He compared it to car dealers being told that they must sell vehicles for less than what they pay manufacturers for the product.

“It’s just somebody behind the scenes making money,” he said. “It does nothing for the public. All it does is drive up the cost of medicine.”

So, after nearly 40 years of trying to change the system, the Pharmacy Station announced Jan. 12 that the pharmacies in Burlington, Waterford and Elkhorn were shutting down.

In a post on Facebook, the company told customers: “This is an extremely difficult day for us. We have enjoyed being a part of the community and helping you with your health care needs.”

Pharmacy workers called customers at home and told them to pick up their current prescriptions soon, or they would have to go over to Walgreens.

“I was shocked,” customer Dan DelFava said. “I like coming here.”

Another customer, Bill Fell, said he and the pharmacy staff are on a first-name basis, and they always are prompt and efficient in taking care of his prescriptions.

Fell said he doubts that service will be so friendly and welcoming at Walgreens.

“You lose some of that personal touch,” he said. “You’re just a number.”