Who are the big 3 distributors?

So, you wanna know who the big players are in the pharmaceutical distribution game? Seriously, it’s a crazy world. The Big Three, as everyone calls them, are Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen – AmerisourceBergen, used to be Cencor, I think I remember hearing that somewhere. Wow, I’m old. Anyway…

Their whole deal, even when things get wonky in the market – and trust me, they do get wonky – is basically buying drugs super cheap, flipping them for a profit, getting paid fast by the hospitals and pharmacies, and then taking their sweet time paying the drug manufacturers. Sounds kinda ruthless, right? It’s like a really, really big-scale version of what I used to do buying and selling vintage comics, only instead of getting a few extra bucks, they’re talking millions.

I remember reading an article, I think it was in the Wall Street Journal or something – maybe it was Bloomberg, I can’t remember for sure – about how this model actually helps keep drug prices down, somewhat. Crazy, huh? Because of their sheer size, they can negotiate these incredibly low prices from the manufacturers, which should ideally translate to savings for everyone further down the line. But, you know… that’s the theory. The reality is much messier than that. I mean, have you seen the price of insulin these days? It’s insane.

It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? About how much these companies really do control, and whether this whole “keeping prices low” thing is as beneficial as they claim. It’s definitely a complex issue, with a lot more layers than I initially realised.