Amazon puts prescription medications in vending machines

Amazon adds Vending machines stocked with prescription medications to one-stop medical clinics, allowing patients to pick up their medications immediately after their appointment. A wide range of shared prescriptions will be available for kiosk collection, including antibiotics, inhalers and blood pressure medications.

The company announced that Amazon Pharmacy kiosks will be available in one medical office across Los Angeles starting in December, with plans to later expand to other locations. Amazon says the specific inventory of the kiosks will vary based on “each office location’s prescribing patterns,” and that it will not distribute controlled substances or medications that require refrigeration.

Vending machines aim to make it easier for people to collect essential medications without traveling to a designated pharmacy, helping to reduce delays and the number of prescriptions that are never filled. Patients can choose to have their provider send their prescriptions to Amazon Pharmacy for collection at office kiosks. This is then verified by one of the company’s pharmacists, with patients able to check the QR code on the Amazon Mobile app and collect their medications “in minutes,” according to the press release.

“We know that when patients have to make an extra trip to the pharmacy after seeing their doctor, many prescriptions go unfilled,” Amazon Chief Operating Officer Hannah McClellan said in the announcement. “By bringing pharmacy directly to the point of care, we remove a critical barrier and help patients start their treatment when it matters most – right away.”

People using Amazon Pharmacy kiosks will also have access to phone and video consultations with the company’s pharmacy team to resolve queries about their medications, “just as they would at a traditional pharmacy counter,” McClellan said. It comes as brick-and-mortar pharmacies across the U.S. struggle against increasing competition and falling drug margins, with Rite, CV, and Walgreens locations closing in recent years—reducing access to prescription pickups.