Schnucks offers customers free antibiotics

ST. LOUIS Schnucks Markets has begun to offer free antibiotics this week at 100 of its in-store pharmacies across seven states, according to reports.

Customers with a prescription can receive up to a 21-day supply of one of more than 54 generic oral antibiotics, according to the St. Louis Dispatch.

The program is said to put no limit on how many 21-day supplies each patient can receive, but patients will have to come in every three weeks for refills. The list of medications may vary from time to time, but the program is scheduled to run indefinitely.

“This is all part of a strategy to bring better value to our customers,” Scott Schnuck, chief executive officer and president of Schnuck Markets, told the Dispatch. “We’ve been looking for something in pharmacy to really address the competitiveness and the importance of that part of our business.”

Schnucks reportedly said the list of its free antibiotics—including amoxicillin and penicillin—were selected from families of drugs most often prescribed to children and adults.

The list represents about 33 percent of Schnucks’ total antibiotics dispensing, according to Schnucks’ director of pharmacy, Bob Mueller.