Sacramento's Ten Acres Pharmacy to close its doors after 5 years

CBS News

16-07-2025

Sacramento's Ten Acres Pharmacy announced that it is closing its doors after five years. This comes after big-box stores shut down hundreds of locations across the nation.
"I am a pharmacist. That is what I do," said Sonya Frausto, who owns Ten Acres Pharmacy in the Curtis Park/Land Park area. "Knowing that I can't take care of them anymore because of something that is not in my control is the worst of this whole decision."
Frausto said poor reimbursements from Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMs, are to blame, and it's driving neighborhood pharmacies like hers out of business.
"This is a critical service in the community, and it's so sad to see it go away," said Mary Odbert, who came by the pharmacy to tell Frausto she was sorry.
Frausto said she started paying anywhere from 3 to 25 percent more for drugs, but insurance companies continued to pay her the same amount.
"We're looking at a future where there are going to be fewer and fewer brick and mortar pharmacies in people's neighborhoods," said democratic state senator Scott Wiener from San Francisco.
Weiner introduced a bill that would create a consistent rate across PBM reimbursements and prevent PBMs from pushing patients to use mail order.
"Health care should never be about money," said Frausto. "It should always be about care."
Frausto said this change could have saved her pharmacy had a similar bill passed last year.
Wiener told CBS13 that the bill is already gaining bipartisan support and believes the governor is backing it now, too.
"This year we've actually been working with the governor and put a piece of the bill into the budget," said Wiener.
Frausto said what she is going to miss most about the pharmacy is the people they serve. She said the final day of Ten Acres will be August 20.
"We see women who are pregnant and now their babies are five years old," said Frausto. "The reality is that I am going to miss taking care of people."