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It's probably not even sales.
It's an off-patent, mass-produced medicine (read: cheap) with multiple uses, not just abortions.
There are a bunch of medicines that are both patented (i.e. expensive) and with way lower demand. In other words: less profitable.
So my reading of this: low demand is an outright lie. They're not carrying on the off-chance the fact they carry it becomes a burden.
They certainly carry plenty of cheap multi-use drugs like aspirin, but I'd expect the sales volume to be a lot higher. I wonder how many infrequently used cheap prescription drugs they carry. Yeah it's unfortunate if they're reacting to political pressure. They do still carry birth control I'm sure.
From what I read elsewhere, they got Plan B. If Mileprostone is an abortion drug, that is a lot less useful than Plan B for casual use. Abortions are the kind of thing that are best monitored by doctors, what with the physical and emotional trauma that comes with it.
And what makes you think Costco carries them?
There are a bunch of medicines that Costco has never carried, not just mifepristone.
First of all: Am European. Neber stepped foot in the US, nor do I plan anytime soon given the current situation.
Second: With a name like "Costco Pharmacy" or "Target Pharmacy", I can only compare it to the stores here at home.
And here, pharmacies are usually seperate establishments. Some superstores, however, do have a pharmacy inside.
And it really is a pharmacy that just so happens to be inside of a store. It isn't like your run of the mill isle. It has its pharmacists - it can't dispense perscription-only medicine without them.
And since they pay healthcare professionals to essentially cosplay as store clerks, they have to pay them well. So the biggest cost is most likely the personnel.
Also, like any regular pharmacy they do carry any "regular" medicine. The uber-regular stuff like paracetamol and aspirin you'd find on regular shelves. Regular stuff requiring a consult is availiable OTC and prescription only drugs are availiable with a prescription.
And pharmacies, including in-store ones do carry everything reasonably possible. The rest is availiable upon request - they'll order it for you if you ask.
So not carrying a specific cheap and reasonably popular drug is a tell, and asking a clerk with a valid prescription would also probably yield a "we don't do that here" about ordering some to fill the prescription.
At least that's how it's done in Europe. And at Target from what I've heard. So then why would Costco be any different?
OK, if you haven't been to an American pharmacy then I will inform you that they don't carry everything one might reasonably need.
To take another example, a few years I went to Costco for the nasal spray flu vaccine that my kid prefers. They didn't have it and couldn't order it. And no, this wasn't due to some weird objection to vaccines. They had plenty of flu vaccine available, but only the kind administered with needles. Nor were they somehow unfamiliar with this version, because they did offer it in previous years.
It was also not offered by other big box pharmacies like Target or Walgreen's. So to get the nasal spray flu vaccine, my kid would have to go to the pediatrician.