Are there too many pharmarcies?

I am posing today's question because of an article in this morning's paper. There is a chart there outlining the cost of producing some common drugs and then all the charges which are added to those drugs before the pharmacist reluctantly passes them over.  Charges are such that, in the case of one drug which costs less than two dollars to produce, people are paying almost twenty dollars. Yes,  pharmacists are making money.
They will of course claim that they have expenses and this is true but do they really have that many expenses? There is a discount chemist chain in Downunder. If you can access one of those stores then things are much cheaper. 
I  visit our chemist on a fairly regular basis. They know me by name in there. I take two drugs, for one of which I can only get thirty days at a time. That is ridiculous - and the chemist knows it. I could get sixty days and  halve the number of times I needed to visit if it was just for me. The other is a one hundred and eighty day supply.
Of course the Senior Cat takes more. It isn't a list as long as some people and, for his age, it isn't unreasonable but it still means I am in there on a more regular basis than is really necessary. 
And  when  I do go in? It is almost always, "About ten minutes Cat."  Sometimes it is longer than that. I head off to do the other shopping. 
Now the drugs we get are not complex. They come in packets and all the pharmacist has to do is look up our record, take the drug from the shelf and put a label with a name on it. I then pay for it. Well yes, slightly more complicated than that but it is what the transaction amounts to. Given ten minutes explanation I could do most of that myself, any halfway intelligent cat could do it. Humans may be even more capable. 
I will agree that an alert pharmacist might pick up a problem. Ours once told me of the occasion on which a doctor had prescribed ten times the normal dose of something. "But you would probably have questioned that too Cat." Yes, I think I would.
So, why the greatly increased costs? I know about things like rent and insurance and the costs associated with employing other people. These days the pharmacy can also dispense dietary advice, advice for diabetics, a huge range of non-prescription pills and potions, cosmetics, toothpaste, jelly beans and much more. The pharmacy is even a place where you can get your annual 'flu vaccination.  Our pharmacist is allowed to "compound" or mix certain drugs as well. This  is not something she is often called upon to do and it isn't something everyone could do. But, does that justify the added costs?
The answer is surely no. Pharmacies are making money. There are rules about how close a new pharmacy can come to an old one. They don't want too much competition. That "ten minutes" would be more convincing if it were sometimes five and sometimes fifty. 
I like our pharmacist. She is kind and always asks sincerely about the Senior Cat.  Still I know that she is being allowed to charge excessive amounts, indeed required to do so by  her guild. 
There shouldn't be that sort of price put on better health.