Publix Super Markets in 5 States Offer 7 Antibiotic Drugs for Free

For consumers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee, the seven most popularly prescribed antibiotics just got easier to swallow.

Consumers with prescriptions for these drugs can now get 14 days of the drugs for free at 684 locations of Publix Super Markets, Inc. in the five southern states. There is no limit on the number of prescriptions that consumers can fill for free.

This service is of particular importance to families because the antibiotics account for almost 50 percent of the generic, pediatric prescriptions filled at Publix. The drugs offered for free are Amoxicillin, Cephalexin, Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim (SMZ-TMP), Ciprofloxacin (excluding ciprofloxacin XR), Penicillin VK, Ampicillin, and Erythromycin (excluding Ery-Tab).

"With health care and prescription costs on the rise, our free prescription drug program will reinforce our commitment to the total health and wellness of our customers and their families," said Publix spokesman Dwaine Stevens. The free antibiotics are offered to customers regardless of their prescription insurance provider.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist, whose state has the majority of Publix stores, said, "Health and wellness is crucial to every Floridian's quality of life and paramount to the vitality of our state. We appreciate great partners like Publix Super Markets working to further provide affordability and accessibility to quality prescription drugs for working families and seniors."

Publix, a privately-held company that is employee-owned, was founded by George W. Jenkins in 1930 in Winter Haven, Florida and opened its first pharmacy in 1986. It is now a Fortune 500 company. To find a store with a pharmacy near you, access http://store.publix.com/publix/.

Publix received the highest numerical score among supermarket pharmacies in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Retail Pharmacy Satisfaction Study, a study based on 6,543 total responses which measured 8 supermarkets. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of customers surveyed between October and November of 2006.

OTHER ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE:

Drug Companies
Nearly all the major drug companies offer a patient assistance program to underwrite the cost of their prescription drugs. You can ask your pharmacist directly for information about applying for these company-direct discounts. Most have income restrictions, yet offer the discounts or free drugs on a continuous basis. Some drug companies require your doctor to apply for the help for you; in other programs, the discounts apply only to Medicare enrollees. In general, those who do not benefit from any private or publicly funded drug benefits qualify.

Discount Drug Programs
To find out more about drug discount programs, which offer discounts from a variety of drug companies, ask your pharmacist, physician, or other health care provider, or go to http://www.peoples-law.org/health/charity-care/special_drug.htm#Anchor-Manufacturer-55749. The programs usually work by requiring consumers to pay a flat fee, usually $10 per prescription, to get a deeply discounted price for the drugs. Savings can be anywhere from $20 to $700 for name-brand drugs.

Your Local Representative
For more information on discounted drugs, call or write your Representatives and Senators whose offices offer information on these programs especially for senior citizens and low income families. They are also your links to stronger legislation about drug prices.

K-Mart and Wal-Mart
Some specific chains are also offering discounted drug programs, in particular K-Mart and Wal-Mart stores. All requests must include a doctor-ordered prescription and cover many of the most commonly used drugs. Wal-Mart is also offering a number of generic prescription drugs for a flat price of $4 each as a way to increase purchases in other departments. Other major chains are developing discount drug programs.