(Bloomberg) -- Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Rosalind Brewer hinted at making a decision on whether to continue selling cigarettes in stores, potentially adding another large retailer to those abandoning the products. 

“It is something that you’ll hear us talk about and make some announcements about in short order,” she said in an interview that aired Wednesday during CNBC’s virtual Healthy Returns Summit. Shareholders have been asking questions about the topic for a while, Brewer said. 

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accounting for more than 480,000 annual deaths. Some cigarette makers themselves have been slowly backing away from the products, moving toward alternatives with fewer health risks. 

Walgreens fell 1.1% as of 3:27 p.m. in New York. 

CVS Health Corp. became the first national pharmacy chain to stop sales of tobacco products in 2014, while also starting a smoking-cessation campaign to “make a difference in the health of all Americans.” Walmart Inc. became the latest retailer to take action on cigarettes, saying this week that it was making a “business decision” to end sales in select stores.

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