Thursday, September 21, 2006

Wal-Mart cuts generic drug prices to $4 in Florida

Drugs involved provide treatments for wide range of conditions

Wal-Mart is test-driving a new plan that would make many generic drugs available at one of their pharmacies for just $4. If it works in Florida, it may go nationwide, which could be good news for millions of Americans, but there are critics who say it's just a P.R. ploy. MSNBC has details.


Update:

On Friday, Target, the nation's No. 2 discount retailer, said it would match Wal-Mart's lower prices for generic prescription drugs in the Tampa area immediately. It was not clear, however, if Target would expand the program beyond Tampa.


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11 comments:

Alina said...

I am sure there are other resons for choosing a price with virtually no profit. But how you see it depends on two aspects: do customers benefit from it? I'm sure they do. Will the press and the public simply forget about the health care issue just like that? I hope not, and from the tone of the article I tend to believe they won't.

Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

Alina: Customers will definitely benefit. And I think you're right about the health care issue. I don't think public concern will suddenly go away.

Belizegial said...

Hello Deb,

Thanks for stopping by my blogsite. Appreciate your kind comments.

Will stop in here more often myself :)

Enid

Hopalong Cassidy said...

Thank you for commenting on my blog for the first time.


Decades ago when I worked for a department store we often had a "lost" leader Saturday morning. We would sell something, that people usually bought lots of anyway, at an incredibly low price to bring crowds into the store. If the lost leader was bread, the lineups outside the store before the doors opened were so enormous, store staff were often afraid of being trampled by the crowd when the doors opened.


I suspect that the $4 drug sale Wal-Mart is experimenting with is the old "lost" leader principle revisited. But in anycase people will benefit from the low price.

Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

Enid: Thanks so much for stopping by.

Tubby: Wow, I learned something new today! Thanks for sharing.

Ian Lidster said...

But, you know Deb, even if it is a PR ploy, if the consumer benefits, what does it matter? Good for Wal-Mart, I say.

Your friend, Ian

Nth Dimension said...

More power to Walmart and Target if they are going to lower prices for the customer. Just as long as they are not cutting corners and taking short-cuts in the production and procurement of these same generic drugs.

Cynical observation may be, but given the recent spate of evidence to display the depths to which corporations can stoop, to "protect" their businesses (HP comes to mind immediately), one has to simply wonder if another such machination is not going on here too. If ever I hope that I am wrong, it is with such things. But there's nothing else to do but wait and watch. Or go elsewhere and pay higher prices for purportedly higher quality.

Dr. Deb said...

This would be amazing.

Meadow said...

I hope they start a revolution.

The Brown Blogger said...

I hope it's both formulary and non-formulary drugs included in the $4 cost.

I hope it come to light nationwide.

Rose said...

Ahh that is a great marketing tool to get customers to the store. Once there to pick up their medications they'll shop around. But its' a good deal for customers. Some medication is almost unaffordable.