US Pharm. 2006;11:1.
Some are calling Wal-Mart's $4
generic prescription program (which was recently expanded to other states
since its initial rollout in Florida) a good marketing move, others are saying
it is all smoke and mirrors, and many say it will save consumers money. As
soon as Wal-Mart announced that it would make nearly 300 generic drugs
available for only $4 per prescription for up to a 30-day supply at commonly
prescribed dosages, some competitors threw tomatoes at the program, while
others just threw in the towel. Even before the dust settled from the Wal-Mart
bomb, Target said it would match the deal. Wal-Mart's nemesis (if in name
only), Kmart, said that the new Wal-Mart program was no big deal. After all,
Kmart had already been offering customers its 90-Day Generics Program, where
patients are able to get a three-month supply of selected generic
prescriptions for $15. You would have thought that Wal-Mart and its
competitors were sitting at the World Championship Poker Tournament table,
using prescription drugs instead of chips to bet on life-and-death situations.
When I first heard of this
program a few months ago, I scratched my head and asked myself, What has
happened to health care in this country? I am all for providing reasonably
priced medications to people who can least afford their prescriptions; and I
also believe that market forces other than price will ultimately determine the
losers and winners among those providing prescription services. I cannot, and
will not, condone reducing potent prescription drugs and pharmacists'
knowledge to the level of a simple commodity based solely on price. There is
value in the services pharmacists perform every day. While Wal-Mart may have
thought its heart was in the right place when it launched this program, I say
it is wrong to emphasize the price of a prescription instead of the value of
that prescription. How do you put a price on the saving or prolonging a life?
How do you put a price on catching potentially fatal drug interactions? How do
you put a price on the education and knowledge that pharmacists utilize every
time a prescription is filled? While it is possible that Wal-Mart's program
may save some patients a few dollars, advertising less expensive prescription
prices in any format just cheapens the profession of pharmacy … and health
care in general.
Perhaps patients should shop
around for the cheapest surgeons to do their open heart surgery, or maybe
pediatricians should give a discount on well-baby visits. Or what about
general practitioners cutting fees on treating symptoms of the common cold? I
mean, let's face it, there really is no cure anyway. You may chuckle over
these tongue-in-cheek examples, but can one really separate the physician from
the disease that is being treated, regardless of its severity? It takes the
same degree of knowledge and education to treat the common cold as it does to
treat a potentially serious strep throat. And while one can argue that open
heart surgery is far more complicated to perform than a minor surgery, once a
patient "goes under the knife," they both have significant risk factors.
Pharmacists provide one of the
most vital health care services in making sure that this country's drug supply
is properly dispensed and patients are properly counseled on their
medications. Prescription drugs are pharmacists' lifesaving "instruments,"
much like a surgeon's scalpel. Minimizing their value through ill-conceived
discount programs is just bad pharmacy.
Harold E. Cohen, R. Ph.
Editor-in-Chief
To comment on this article, contact
editor@uspharmacist.com.
