Pharmacists Group comes out against Wal-Mart drug plan
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Updated: April 17, 2007
The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) today said Wal-Mart`s generic drug program will provide minimal benefit to most patients because of the limited number of medications included on the list of drugs that are covered.
According to NCPA Executive Vice President and CEO Bruce Roberts, Wal-Mart`s list of medications only represents about one percent of the total number of drugs available.
The NCPA says there are more than 11,000 drugs listed by the Food and Drug Administration and while the Wal-Mart program claims to offer more than 300 medicines, its list actually includes only about 150 different drugs.
One example the group cites is the inclusion of 12 different versions of the antibiotic amoxicillin on the list. The group also says many older medications are on the list and newer, replacement medications that often work better or have fewer side effects are not included.
The National Community Pharmacists Association, founded in 1898, represents the nation`s community pharmacists, including the owners of more than 24,000 pharmacies.
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