Grocery chain to give away antibiotics

How's this for a low-cost prescription program: Free.

Publix Super Markets Inc. announced Monday that it is giving away seven commonly used antibiotics. Up to a 14-day supply of the oral medicines will be free with a doctor's prescription.

Drugs covered include amoxicillin, cephalexin, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (SMZ-TMP), ciprofloxacin (excluding ciprofloxacin XR), penicillin VK, ampicillin and erythromycin (excluding Ery-Tab).

The drugs account for about half of all the generic antibiotic prescriptions filled for children at the supermarket chain, which has 684 pharmacies in five Southeastern states. The giveaway is open to all ages, regardless of whether a person has insurance.

"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," Publix spokesman Dwaine Stevens said in a statement.

The move also could help Publix attract more customers to its stores at a time when mass merchandisers are making a strong play with deep discounts for the profitable prescription drug business. Generic antibiotics are generally inexpensive, especially when bought in large quantities. A generic prescription of amoxicillin, for example, typically sells for less than $5.

Publix Chief Executive Charlie Jenkins Jr. acknowledged that increasing pharmacy sales was a part of the Florida-based company's motivation, but said the company also wanted to contribute to making health care more affordable.

"Frankly, we're interested in building our pharmacy business," Jenkins said. "But moreover, we want to help the citizens of our state have affordable health care, and we thought this was just a good start in doing that."

Wal-Mart launched the prescription price war last fall, when it cut the cost of a one-month supply of many generic drugs to $4 at its Florida stores.

The chain expanded the program quickly, and now offers more than 300 drugs for that price at its nearly 4,000 pharmacies across the country.

Target quickly followed suit. Kmart offers a 90-day supply of more than 300 generics for $15.

The price cuts come as supermarkets are battling with mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart over market share. Consumers are shifting away from buying higher-profit items such as shampoo, detergents and paper goods at grocery stores, instead picking them up at mass merchandisers and warehouse clubs.

Grocery stores are looking at other ways to stay competitive and attract more customer visits, from offering more prepared meals to opening in-store medical clinics.

"Nothing sells like free," said Bill Bishop, chairman of Willard Bishop, a supermarket consulting firm in Barrington, Ill.

The free antibiotic program will help strengthen shoppers' perceptions that Publix offers low prices on prescriptions, which could boost its pharmacy business, traditionally one of a supermarket's more profitable areas, Bishop said.

The program will boost the store's appeal to seniors and families with children, he said.

Competitors pointed out that by limiting the giveaway to a 14-day supply, Publix also limits its financial exposure.

"It seems like a tactic to draw people in and then have their business at the normal prices," said John Norton, a spokesman for the National Community Pharmacists Association, which represents 23,000 independent pharmacists.

Some aspects of the giveaway concern Ken Thorpe, a professor of health policy at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health.

"There's an ongoing debate about whether we're overprescribing antibiotics when, in many cases, people just have viruses," Thorpe said.

"The real challenge is to make sure we're not overprescribing."

Publix has several stores in the Charleston area, including locations in Mount Pleasant, Summerville, Goose Creek, North Charleston and on James Island.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.