Magnacca, CHPA discuss OTC's role

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. — Two weeks before the Food and Drug Administration met on expanding the switch paradigm, attendees of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association’s Annual Executive Conference discussed how over-the-counter medicines can help shape health care as part of a panel featuring Joe Magnacca, Walgreens president of daily living products and solutions.

Walgreens has been a prominent architect in re-engineering the retail pharmacy experience in the past year through its flagship stores in New York and Chicago. A key piece of that is increasing customer/pharmacist engagement over all health topics. “We do everything we can to allow the pharmacist to practice at the highest level of their degree,” Magnacca said.



That’s the potential game changer for the self-care space: to recast retail pharmacy as a destination for health-and-wellness solutions on top of its role in supplying acute care remedies and servicing as a prescription depot.