Neighborhood Pharmacies

* Re “A Bitter Pill for Pharmacist, His Customers,” March 23.

The Sandy Banks piece on the forced closing of neighborhood pharmacies was right on the mark. Like Dr. Bob, I had to sell my pharmacy, which served two generations for more than 20 years in the same location.

It was a sad day when I had to walk away from the business I loved. Insurance companies began dictating prices and profits were cut so drastically I could no longer survive financially. Since then, I have been plying my trade for a major drugstore chain. The difference between the two types of operations is mind-boggling. The only thing the mega-chains care about is bottom-line profit. Mistakes and mis-fills are increasing at an alarming rate because manpower is cut to a minimum.

Customers must make their voices heard, other than grumbling while cooling their heels waiting in line. Their health, their lives, are at stake.

MEL SCHNEIDERMAN

Studio City

* In this often impersonal metropolis, Northridge Hills Pharmacy was a piece of Grover’s Corners--a haven out of which you always emerged feeling better. Bob Livon dispensed compassion, humor and support, and along with prescribed medications, a dose of friendship that made the pills much easier to swallow.

Bob also gave many young people their first jobs. My daughter was one of the many teens who worked under his watchful eye, receiving encouragement, advice and caring with her paycheck. It was a big extended family: Bob, wife Arlene, a cadre of young clerks and an army of regular customers. Thank you, Sandy Banks, for writing about this special place that we will all remember so fondly.

DEBORAH RICHMAN

Northridge

* As a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company for almost 30 years, I found Sandy Banks’ article very interesting. Everything she wrote was accurate. She captured the essence of the problem: The pharmacy profession is essentially being destroyed by the insurance industry and their managed-care plans.

A suggestion: Check with any of your physician friends. You will find that they are subjected to the same kind of hideous treatment by insurance / managed-care firms.

This is a very serious issue. Both professions need someone to champion their cause.

RON VANDERFORD

Burbank