CVS Stops Selling Tobacco Products

As of September 3, CVS Caremark is CVS Health, and their 7,700 stores across the nation no longer sell tobacco products. "The right move" - as CVS has called it - will cost them $2 billion in revenue. CVS announced the decision to pull tobacco products from the shelves in February but said the decision would not take effect until October 1. Wednesday's announcement brought on this change almost an entire month ahead of schedule.

This decision further aligns CVS with the Affordable Care Act and the public health goals of the Obama administration. These shared goals are evident in the first line of CVS Health's mission statement: "Health is everything." 

It remains to be seen whether or not competitors will follow CVS's lead.

To read more about the rebranding decision and how banning tobacco products from the stores plays into that, check out this information from the updated CVS Health website.