Pharmacies fret over McKesson takeover of Rexall

A U.S. healthcare services company is poised to become the single largest player in the Canadian retail pharmacy sector, both supplying and selling drugs at retail, a move competitors say will put them at a disadvantage.

“The supplier who supplies me with medicine now competes with me head-to-head in the market with his own pharmacy,” said Ben Shenouda, an independent pharmacist in Brampton, and spokesperson for the Independent Association of Pharmacists of Ontario.