cvs health stops selling tobacco halts sales, changes name 1 month early CVS to Stop Selling Cigarette,

CVS, the second-largest drugstore chain in America, is kicking the tobacco habit

CVS made big headlines in February 2014 when it announced it would stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products in its 8,000 drugstores, foregoing $2 billion in annual sales

"CVS Caremark is continually looking for ways to promote health and reduce the burden of disease," said CVS Caremark Chief Medical Officer Troyen A

1 because it could no longer sell smokes in a setting where health care is offered

The idea also is that a robust PBM business raises the odds that Caremark members will choose to get their prescriptions filled at a CVS rather than a Walgreens (WBA) or a Rite Aid (RAD)

While the prevalence of cigarette smoking has decreased from approximately 42 percent of adults in 1965 to 18 percent today, the rate of reduction in smoking prevalence has stalled in the past decade