Wal-Mart $4 Generics Program Launched In Louisiana

(Bentonville, AR) Wal-Mart Stores says its 94 pharmacies in Louisiana will begin participating in Wal-Mart`s $4 generic prescription program starting tomorrow (Tuesday). Today`s announcement brought 11 new states with a total of 811 pharmacies into the $4 generics program. Along with Louisiana, the new states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The program kicked off in Florida in September, with plans to spread outside the state in January 2007. However, customer demand led Wal-Mart to accelerate the rollout of the program - now available in all 3,810 pharmacies in 49 states. With the announcement, Wal-Mart has expanded the program to include 331 generic prescriptions available for up to a 30-day supply at commonly prescribed dosages. The list is made up of as many as 143 compounds in 26 therapeutic categories. According to www.rxlist.com, the list also includes 14 of the top 20 prescribed medications in the United States. Response to the program has been considerable. Between September 21 and November 12, as the first 27 states were added to the program, 2.1 million more new prescriptions have been filled in those states as compared to the same time periods last year. Generic medicines generally cost between 30 percent and 60 percent less than equivalent brand-name products, and Wal-Mart estimates that its list of $4 generic prescriptions represents more than 25 percent of prescriptions currently dispensed in its pharmacies nationwide. (Copyright 2006 Newsroom Solutions, LLC)