Meijer reaches 1 million mark in free antibiotic program

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. Supercenter retailer Meijer has provided more than one million free antibiotic prescriptions to its customers during the first year of its free antibiotic program, and is looking to exceed that goal.

The program, which covers leading oral generic antibiotics with a special focus on the prescriptions most often filled for children, includes at least one antibiotic from each of the major antibiotic classifications and more than 70 percent of the generic, pediatric antibiotic prescriptions filled by Meijer. This includes medications like Amoxicillin, Cephalexin, SMZ-TMP, Ciprofloxacin, Penicillin VK, Ampicillin and Erythromycin.

“When we launched this innovative program last year, our goal was to help families here in the Midwest as they continue to deal with rising health care costs,” said Hank Meijer. “The Meijer free antibiotic program has been hugely successful, and we are so proud this program has made such a positive impact on our customers.”

This program allows any customer, regardless of insurance or co-pay, can take their prescription to any Meijer pharmacy and receive their designated antibiotic free of charge, without membership to purchase or specialized policies found at other pharmacies (i.e., paperwork). Meijer studies show that 94 percent of its customers have some form of insurance coverage; however, they still have drug- related co-pays.

“Reaching this milestone in less than 12 months validates that this program is something that truly benefits our customers,” Meijer said. “Based on this response, as well as the momentum built through the year, I would be surprised if we didn’t hit the 2 million milestone by late Spring 2008.”