Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, expanded its $4 a pop generics program by 11 states, to a total of 38, and added 17 drugs, to a total of 331.
The program is now extended to 502 stores in Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Washington and West Virginia.
In the 38 states, 3,009 Wal-Mart pharmacies have the program. The prescription list, the Bentonville, Ark., chain said in a statement, includes 14 of the top 20 medications prescribed in the U.S.
Wal-Mart launched the program in September in Florida and said it is working to bring the program to other states.
1 comment:
Are we witnessing the begining of Wal-Mart's another destruction of the "main" street. This time it is going to be the Big pharma?? Not very likely, for the big pharma can resist almost any challenge, especially with our pro-pharma patent and other laws. By the time Wal-Mart gets to import the generics, the makers of those drugs while brand name, have allredy milked it for, what 25 years. Of course at premium prices. Ironically, many if not most "brand name" big pharma companies, themselves are involved in the lucrative generic business. Why not? All they do, once the drug goes generic, transfer the powder for their pills to the generic manufacturing or not. Just continue to make the same drug, in diferent colored pill and sell it to Wal-Mart at fraction of the cost of the brand name. Isn't this business wonderful?
In fact some of the biggest generic manufaturers are owned by big pharma companies. Sandoz generic maker, that used to be the name for the famous Sandoz pharmaceuticals of Basel, Switzerland, is owned by Novartis pharmaceuticals of Basel. All they did after the merger of Sandoz and Ciba/Geigy in 1996, transfer the Sandoz name to their already in operation generic company. Since then Sandoz has become No 1 generic maker in the World, manufacturing any generic drug they can get their hands on, not only thier former brand name drugs.
Same goes for Pfizer, BMS, Merck and the list goes on and on. One wonders if the whole big pharma including generic makers is not just one big happy family. In fact they are. No wonder the prices of the drugs we pay in US are the highest in the World.
If Wal-Mart were to be successful to destroy another "main" street in the form of Big pharma, would not that be just another "poetic justice"?
Post a Comment