Wal-Mart Expands Program Providing Drug Discounts
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores announced Monday that it would expand its discounted prescription drug program to offer 90-day supplies for $10. It also said it would lower the price of more than 1,000 over-the-counter drugs.
The company is in the third phase of a program that began in 2006 to provide a 30-day supply of generic prescription drugs for $4. The company, based in Bentonville, Ark., said the program had saved customers more than $1 billion.
The company began filling prescriptions on Monday for up to 350 generic medications at $10 for a 90-day supply at Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sam’s Club pharmacies in the United States. Almost all the prescription generics in the company’s $4 program were included in the expanded $10 offer, said a Wal-Mart senior vice president, John O. Agwunobi.
The company will also add several women’s medications to its list of prescriptions available for $9, including drugs to treat breast cancer and hormone deficiency.
For instance, alendronate, the generic version of the osteoporosis medication Fosamax, will be added to the list. Company pharmacies will fill 30-day prescriptions of alendronate for $9 and 90-day prescriptions for $24. Women previously paid $54 for a 30-day supply and $102 for a 90-day supply, the company said.
Tamoxifen, used to treat breast cancer, will be offered for $9 for a 30-day supply, as will combination estrogen/methyltestosterone tablets, prescribed for menopause and hormone deficiency.
Wal-Mart will also reduce the prices of more than 1,000 over-the-counter medications to $4 or less in its pharmacies, company officials said. The new prices will apply to about one-third of the retailer’s over-the-counter medicines. They include Wal-Mart’s Equate versions of popular drugs like Zantac, Pepcid and Claritin.
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