(Natural News) Amazon may have paid nearly $1 billion for the online pharmacy, PillPack, but what is the real cost of this acquisition going to be for consumers? In the aftermath of Amazon’s lofty purchase, three of the largest pharmacies in the U.S. (Walgreen’s, CVS and Rite Aid) lost a collective $11 billion in market value in one day. The stench of “corporate monopoly” is in the air — and it’s coming from Amazon.

Some might argue that Amazon is not considered to be a full-blown monopoly quite yet; Wal-Mart still reigns as the nation’s largest retailer. But estimates suggest Amazon will surpass the nation’s favorite discount retail store within five or ten years. Further, Amazon has cemented itself across multiple markets, with the sole intent of taking over. In truth, Amazon is more than a monopoly: It’s a threat.

Funnily enough, Wal-Mart was reportedly in talks with PillPack about a possible acquisition — before Amazon outbid them.

“MONOPOLY” IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT

It’s increasingly hard to ignore the fact that Amazon has its fingers in just about every pot: From purchasing Whole Foods to acquiring PillPack, it’s clear that the corporation isn’t just playing to win — they’re playing to take over.

There’s no denying that Amazon has changed the way many people shop for everyday items — and with the purchasing of an online pharmacy, Amazon is paving the way to change how people shop for medicine, too.

CEO Stefano Pessina reportedly commented on Amazon’s purchase of PillPack. He stated,”Yes, it’s a declaration of intent from Amazon.”

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“[But] the pharmacy world is much more complex than the delivery of a certain [pills or] packages,” he added

Writing for The Nation, Stacey Mitchell notes that Amazon isn’t just a retailer; in addition to the myriad of things Amazon now does (like producing TV shows, publishing books, delivering food, selling advertising space and managing data from U.S. intelligence agencies), Amazon was built by Jeff Bezos for a more sinister purpose.

“Bezos has designed his company for a far more radical goal than merely dominating markets; he’s built Amazon to replace them. His vision is for Amazon to become the underlying infrastructure that commerce runs on,” Mitchell contends. The online conglomerate already takes in half of all online retail sales — and Amazon Web Services boasts over 30 percent of the world’s cloud computing capacity.

Amazon already controls key pieces of commerce infrastructure — and now, it’s looking to gain control of all the major markets. And with this, there will be trouble for consumers and producers alike. Amazon cares about profits and total domination– nothing else.

AMAZON ZOOMS IN ON TAKING OVER THE DRUG INDUSTRY

Whatever Amazon touches, it plans on taking over — there’s little doubt about that. Now that the corporation has secured a spot in the pharmaceutical industry, what will happen next? Mike Adams, founder of Natural News and Director of CWC Labs, wrote about the calamity of Big Pharma and Amazon joining forces nearly a year ago.

The Health Ranger posited that when Amazon entered the drug market, it wouldn’t take long for them to “start pushing psychiatric medications, deadly statin drugs, toxic chemotherapy drugs (modeled after chemical weapons), addictive opioids and the mass drugging of children for profit.”

“This is the new Amazon, where Prime delivery means that flying DRONES will deliver all the chemical medications needed to turn the population into biological drones. Thanks to Jeff Bezos, America will soon become a zombieland of drugged-out, stupefied mass consumers who are oblivious to reality,” Adams continued.

Once Amazon has dominated the prescription drug-selling industry, how long will it take for them to just stop selling (or maybe even ban) the sale of health-supporting supplements and natural medicines? You can bet that Amazon will use its ever-growing power to influence not only the market place, but policies and legislation. The corporate takeover is already happening, and Amazon is poising itself to be at the helm.

Read more stories about Big Pharma at BigPharmaNews.com.

Sources for this article include:

CNBC.com

TechCrunch.com

TheNation.com