http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_n...ory/521547.html

BY JOHN DORSCHNER
jdorschner@MiamiHerald.com

Wal-Mart announced a major expansion of its $4 prescription-drug program Monday morning to include over-the-counter drugs and adding 90-day prescriptions for $10.

Executives said in a conference call that its discount drug program has so far saved customers more than $1 billion.

''We can do more to help families nationwide at a time when they need us,'' said Dr. John Agwunobi, Wal-Mart senior vice president, in a telephone conference call.

The over-the-counter offerings will cover 1,000 items, including generic versions of Zantac, Pepcid and Claritin. They will be priced at $4, about half the price they sell for now in major drug stores and supermarkets, Wal-Mart executives said.

A quick check at two South Florida stores showed the Wal-Mart offer makes for considerable savings.

At a Publix in Miami Shores, extra-strength acetaminophen, the equivalent of Tylenol, cost $7.99 for 100 tablets, compared to Wal-Mart's new price of $4 for 200 tablets. The Publix brand equivalent of Advil cost $10.99 for 250 tablets, compared to Wal-Mart's $4 for 200.

At Publix, the 20 mg equivalent of Pepcid cost $4.99 for 25 tablets, compared to $4 for 50 tablets at Wal-Mart. Sixty tablets, 75 mg strength, of the equivalent of Zantac cost $12.99 at Publix, compared to $4 for 65 tablets, 150 mg strength at Wal-Mart.

At a Miami Shores Walgreens, the allergy medicine Claritin was $23.99 for 40 tablets and $13.99 for the equivalent, compared to $4 for 30 tablets of the generic at Wal-Mart.

At Walgreens, 100 ''Cool Caplets'' of Tylenol Extra Strength cost $8.99 and the generic cost $5.99. Wal-Mart is $4 for 200 extra-strength caplets. Advil cost $14.99 for 200 tablets, while the generic Walgreens brand $8.99 for 100, compared to $4 for 200 tablets or caplets at Wal-Mart.

In its existing $4 prescription drug program, Wal-Mart estimated it has saved its Florida customers $81.4 million during the year and a half its been in existence. Its research showed the company saved Florida customers an average of $6.09 on more than 13 million prescriptions.

Executives said they also plan to have more than 400 walk-in clinics operating in Wal-Marts by the end of 2009.

This could be a good thing. I really feel for the elderly that do not have alot help with insurance. Thanks. I will check into this too. Maybe Zyrtec D will be on the list someday. My son takes that everyday and it is expensive.

I think this is a great thing, just goes to show how overcharged we are for everything... Is there a complete list of medicines somewhere?

Brenda,

Remember that it's the generic form of the meds that are $4, not the brand name, so if there's a generic form of Zyrtec D, I'd check and see if it's one of the $4 meds, or if it's cheaper than the brand name. I take allergy meds, too, the D form, but I try to switch off between Claritin, Alavert and Zyrtec, although I mostly take Claratin and Alavert.

Pam,

There's a list that can be downloaded/opened in Adobe Acrobat at Walmart.com

It was also announced today that Target is also jumping on the $4 OTC meds: http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/522308.html

That is good news for everyone. I am blessed to have very good health insurance with decent medicine coverage. But with the price of gas, every savings helps!!!! Medication is something that as far as I am concerned is OUTRAGEOUSLY priced. I will tell you something that makes me crazy is this, and of course it is a government related issue. I am a RN that works with developmentally disabled adults and the majority 99% of them are on medicaid. Here's my gripe. For instance "John" starts on medication "A" and the dosage is changed or the doctor changes the medication altogether. Guess what we HAVE to do with the discontinued medication.....yep, you guessed it Throw them away. We have even checked in to sending the medication to third world countries.....the answer was NO!! I think of the thousands and thousands of dollars that are literally down the toilet!! Thanks for letting me vent about that.
Laura

Laura,

I heard about that on the news one night, how so much medication is wasted that it's not even funny, and a lot of it is at taxpayer's expense because the patients are on Medicaid. You'd think that there could be *something* done with all that wasted medicine, like a medication bank being set up to help those who are in need of medication but can't afford it on their own. So many poor people and Senior Citizens have to choose between taking their medication or eating, and most choose to let their medication go in order to buy food.