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Wal-Mart $4 Generic Program
“As pharmacists, we consider one’s health to be worth much more than a $4 dollar prescription product,” according to Vince Colucci, President of the Montana Pharmacy Association. “We would advise patients to not act out of haste but, rather, to consider the value they receive from their pharmacist; values that go beyond the cost of the drug product such as medication counseling, a resource for both prescription and OTC drugs, medication management, and health advice. We do acknowledge the high cost of some medications and empathize, nevertheless, if patients have developed a trusting and resourceful relationship with their pharmacist and value them as a health care provider, we would encourage that continued relationship and discourage price shopping simply for the product
According to Jim Smith, the Association’s Executive Director in Helena, “for some people Wal-Mart’s program is appropriate. For others it may not be. Wal-Mart’s buying power is legendary, but the buyer should still beware; and the buyer should still weigh a $4 prescription along with the other health considerations that go into making a wise decision.”
“Physician and pharmacy hopping and shopping are not smart health care for most people,” according to Smith. He and Colucci point to thousands of older Montanans, for example, who may be taking multiple prescriptions for concurrent diseases. “On average, elderly patients take seven (7) different prescription medications daily. They need the consistency and continuity a trusted pharmacist brings to their healthcare treatment,” says Colucci.
One study published this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reviewed the impacts of adverse drug events (ADEs).
According to the JAMA study, “the main outcome measure in this study was emergency department visits due to adverse drug events. Need for hospitalization was a secondary outcome measure. Adverse events included allergic reactions, secondary effects (e.g., falls), unintentional overdose due to high dose or slow elimination, and adverse effects at normal doses. They did not look at cases of worsening disease because of les-than-optimal dosing or study the specific effects of medication errors because of non-compliance or confusion.
“Based on data from the sample hospitals, 701,547 patients presented to U.S. emergency departments due to adverse drug events annually. One quarter of these visits were by elderly patients (i.e., 65 and older). Almost 3,500 patients were admitted. About half of the hospitalizations due to adverse drug events were in the elderly.
Over 700,000 patients are treated in emergency departments each year for adverse drug events...or 2.4 out of every 1000. And one in six of these are hospitalized.
“This study underscores the importance of good medication management, patient counseling, and drug regimen reviews, all important components of a good pharmacist-patient relationship,” says Colucci.