cvs health stops selling tobacco Quits Products Three Weeks Early CVS snuffs out tobacco sales

expanding tobacco cessation coverage and making new investments in prevention campaigns through the Affordable Care Act

As a physician who has worked for decades at the intersection of clinical medicine and public health, I was elated by the CVS decision

"They are expanding on the basis of in-store clinics, deeper relationships with health plan customers and integrated health systems around the country." CVS operates 7,700 drugstores, 900 walk-in medical clinics and a pharmacy-benefits manager with almost 65 million members

"CVS is pushing aggressively ahead in terms of becoming a provider of care and having in-store pharmacists and nurse practitioners offer high-quality care in a low-cost environment," he said

CVS said the decision wont impact its 2014 EPS guidance or the companys five-year financial projections

Weve come to the decision that cigarettes have no place in an environment where healthcare is being delivered. The decision gained immediate praise from the American Medical Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Merlo says that continuing to sell cigarettes, which the Surgeon General blames for 480,000 deaths every year from heart disease, lung cancer, and stroke, was anathema to CVS long-term plan to become a central player in the U.S