Giant Eagle offers free antibiotics plan
From Mirror staff reportsGiant Eagle Inc. is offering 10 generic antibiotics for free with a valid prescription.
The program builds on the company's successful $4 generic prescription medication program.
"The Giant Eagle Pharmacy is committed to the health and wellness of our communities, especially during the back-to-school season when children and families begin to move indoors and become more susceptible to bacteria-related illness," Randy Heiser, Giant Eagle vice president for pharmacy, said in a statement. "This new free antibiotic program is expected to result in $4.6 million in annual cost savings for our customers, helping children and adults alike obtain these important antibiotics."
The antibiotics available under the program are amoxicillin, ampicillin, cephalexin, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, erythromycin, penicillin, sulfamethoxazole /trimethoprim, tetracycline and bacitracin.
Common infections that these antibiotics treat range from strep throat, ear infections and conjunctivitis to bladder infections, pneumonia, acne and urinary tract and skin infections.
Giant Eagle said the program is available at all of its 210 in-store pharmacies.
A local doctor praised Giant Eagle for the program.
"I think it is great. They are older medicines that we use a lot of and we continue to use them. This is a good spectrum of antibiotics," said Dr. Donald Beckstead of Altoona Family Physicians. "My only concern is that because these are free, patients may want to get one of these when with certain infections, one of these would not be the first choice."
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Whynot
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09-23-09 9:24 AM
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You already knew that, right
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VeepGeek
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09-07-09 9:04 AM
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My problem with "free" is that someone else always has to pay. No business gives anything for "free". The losses from these medications will be passed on through higher prices for other medications or through higher prices elsewhere in the store. Everyone in our country has been conditioned now to believe that healthcare and medications should be free. Free just means that someone else is footing the bill AND he who foots the bill has control over what you get. If we could make healthcare and medications affordable, then we could all pay for our own routine care and routine medications, thereby leaving health insurers to pay for only catastrophic health needs and medications. We would then go to doctors who provide the best care for the best value and demand that tests and medication only be given when truly necessary. Of course, this can't happen without tort reform. Get the greedy lawyers out of healthcare and billions of dollars will miraculously appear.
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DRILLMAMMA
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09-04-09 8:37 PM
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Anitbiotics will be pushed by doctors now. No matter what you have an antibiotic will take care of it.
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