Walmart is now expanding the $4.00 generic RX 30 day program to 90 days for $10.00

Yeah saving 2 extra dollars is nice but I like the part of making one trip every three months instead of three saving gas.

linky

Nice, hopefully Giant Eagle will follow with this as well.

Whoa. Tamoxifen at this price? That's just awesome.

anything FUN?

Has anyone else noticed that their WalMart drugs are close to expiration? I just filled my blood pressure medicine ($4) and it came in a plastic pack with expiration of 11/08. This has been pretty normal - expiration in about six months. I'm wondering how much of the other Rx medication is on the "old" side?

rushhound said: rsmo2222 said: Has anyone else noticed that their WalMart drugs are close to expiration? I just filled my blood pressure medicine ($4) and it came in a plastic pack with expiration of 11/08. This has been pretty normal - expiration in about six months. I'm wondering how much of the other Rx medication is on the "old" side?

Since most meds are good for years past their "expiration" date I guess I am wondering what the "problem" is?

I certainly wouldn't trust drugs past their expiration, especially with the generics. There's an expiration date for a reason - the drugs start to break down and have little or no effect, possibly even causing other problems.

SafetyDance said: rushhound said: rsmo2222 said: Has anyone else noticed that their WalMart drugs are close to expiration? I just filled my blood pressure medicine ($4) and it came in a plastic pack with expiration of 11/08. This has been pretty normal - expiration in about six months. I'm wondering how much of the other Rx medication is on the "old" side?

Since most meds are good for years past their "expiration" date I guess I am wondering what the "problem" is?

I certainly wouldn't trust drugs past their expiration, especially with the generics. There's an expiration date for a reason - the drugs start to break down and have little or no effect, possibly even causing other problems.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update1103a.shtml

"Most of what is known about drug expiration dates comes from a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration at the request of the military. With a large and expensive stockpile of drugs, the military faced tossing out and replacing its drugs every few years. What they found from the study is 90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date".

"So the expiration date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use. Medical authorities state expired drugs are safe to take, even those that expired years ago. A rare exception to this may be tetracycline, but the report on this is controversial among researchers. It's true the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, but much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date. Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medications are as long-lasting as the ones tested by the military. Placing a medication in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, will help a drug remain potent for many years. "

rushhound said:

"Most of what is known about drug expiration dates comes from a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration at the request of the military. With a large and expensive stockpile of drugs, the military faced tossing out and replacing its drugs every few years. What they found from the study is 90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date".

"So the expiration date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use. Medical authorities state expired drugs are safe to take, even those that expired years ago. A rare exception to this may be tetracycline, but the report on this is controversial among researchers. It's true the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, but much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date. Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medications are as long-lasting as the ones tested by the military. Placing a medication in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, will help a drug remain potent for many years. "

As a pharmacist (I also work at a major drug company) I can tell you that information is 100% INCORRECT.

Drug stability is determined by the drug manufacturing company. They do extensive studies that last years and CLOSELY monitor drug stabiliy and degradation products. This data is submitted with the regulatory filing to the FDA for each drug product. This data NEVER comes from the FDA. Each different drug product requires very specific methods for testing which drug companies spend a lot of time optimizing.

The expiration is the length of time a drug is GUARANTEED (Buy the manufacturer) to maintain a level of potency (Generally 90%) of its original strength when stored at the labelled conditions (Usually CONTROLLED room temperature). That means if you store it in the bathroom medicine cabinet (As many do) which is a moist and warm environment, the drugs will degrade or lose potency FASTER than the expiration date. And generics and brand name products may have different expiration depending on materials used in the formulation process, even for the exact same ingredient. So the expiration on drug X from company A may be 5 years, but may only be 2 years from company B.

That "Blanket" statement is ridiculous as all drugs degrade at different rates and some have dangerous degradation by-products. I can guarantee that no prescription drug lasts 15 years at room temperature. Most last 2 years before the potency is considered low, some may last 3-4 years. 5 is typically about as long as a drug will last (Under IDEAL conditions). 15 years is just absurd. While the drugs may be "Safe" as in no dangerous degradation products, they will certainly no be "Effective" in that they will have lost most, if not all of their potency.

fourml8r said: rushhound said:

"Most of what is known about drug expiration dates comes from a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration at the request of the military. With a large and expensive stockpile of drugs, the military faced tossing out and replacing its drugs every few years. What they found from the study is 90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date".

"So the expiration date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use. Medical authorities state expired drugs are safe to take, even those that expired years ago. A rare exception to this may be tetracycline, but the report on this is controversial among researchers. It's true the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, but much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date. Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medications are as long-lasting as the ones tested by the military. Placing a medication in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, will help a drug remain potent for many years. "

As a pharmacist (I also work at a major drug company) I can tell you that information is 100% INCORRECT.

Drug stability is determined by the drug manufacturing company. They do extensive studies that last years and CLOSELY monitor drug stabiliy and degradation products. This data is submitted with the regulatory filing to the FDA for each drug product. This data NEVER comes from the FDA. Each different drug product requires very specific methods for testing which drug companies spend a lot of time optimizing.

The expiration is the length of time a drug is GUARANTEED (Buy the manufacturer) to maintain a level of potency (Generally 90%) of its original strength when stored at the labelled conditions (Usually CONTROLLED room temperature). That means if you store it in the bathroom medicine cabinet (As many do) which is a moist and warm environment, the drugs will degrade or lose potency FASTER than the expiration date. And generics and brand name products may have different expiration depending on materials used in the formulation process, even for the exact same ingredient. So the expiration on drug X from company A may be 5 years, but may only be 2 years from company B.

That "Blanket" statement is ridiculous as all drugs degrade at different rates and some have dangerous degradation by-products. I can guarantee that no prescription drug lasts 15 years at room temperature. Most last 2 years before the potency is considered low, some may last 3-4 years. 5 is typically about as long as a drug will last (Under IDEAL conditions). 15 years is just absurd. While the drugs may be "Safe" as in no dangerous degradation products, they will certainly no be "Effective" in that they will have lost most, if not all of their potency.

"I can tell you that information is 100% INCORRECT."
Bold and very wrong statement! I will take my chances on information from many sources that disagree with you.

So you have conducted your own clinical trials that have trumped the ones the army did for the federal government? I guess I missed that press release. Plus you contradict yourself in your own damning of widely accepted information. I personally would not take something 15 years old simply because they will lose potency. I would not think twice about using something like a anti-inflammatory or allergy med that is several years past their "expiration" date.

My only original point was it is silly to be worrying about your meds expiring at some point in the future when you will have used them before that time. Also telling people with chronic conditions that their expired meds will "hurt" them and lead them to not take them can be dangerous. Someone that takes a blood pressure pill that is 2-3 years past the expiration date is far better off even if the med may have lost some low percentage of its original potency. Plus generics only have to be within 20% high and 20% low of the name brand drug. So it really makes a minimal amount of difference if they lose some potency. Meds like antiarrhythmics are something I would prefer to not be many years old. Again if you don't have the money to purchase new then it's better than not taking anything

rsuaver said: The $9 Women's Health drugs were added like 6 months ago... The $10 90 day supply is new.

I've seen a similarly advertised program at the local ShopRite for $11.99 for 90 days. But agree that this is better...

Tri-sprintec/Sprintec was added to the Women's health in California as of today only (*) along with 6 other states, how can alendronate be on the Women's Health list 6 month's ago, when it was just been available as generic 1.5 months ago?

There's another problem with throwing away drugs: the environment. Certain drugs released into the environment can cause serious harm to certain living creatures. In other words, overly tight expiration dates could be causing some extra environmental damage.

rushhound said: fourml8r said: rushhound said:

"Most of what is known about drug expiration dates comes from a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration at the request of the military. With a large and expensive stockpile of drugs, the military faced tossing out and replacing its drugs every few years. What they found from the study is 90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date".

"So the expiration date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use. Medical authorities state expired drugs are safe to take, even those that expired years ago. A rare exception to this may be tetracycline, but the report on this is controversial among researchers. It's true the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, but much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date. Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medications are as long-lasting as the ones tested by the military. Placing a medication in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, will help a drug remain potent for many years. "

As a pharmacist (I also work at a major drug company) I can tell you that information is 100% INCORRECT.

Drug stability is determined by the drug manufacturing company. They do extensive studies that last years and CLOSELY monitor drug stabiliy and degradation products. This data is submitted with the regulatory filing to the FDA for each drug product. This data NEVER comes from the FDA. Each different drug product requires very specific methods for testing which drug companies spend a lot of time optimizing.

The expiration is the length of time a drug is GUARANTEED (Buy the manufacturer) to maintain a level of potency (Generally 90%) of its original strength when stored at the labelled conditions (Usually CONTROLLED room temperature). That means if you store it in the bathroom medicine cabinet (As many do) which is a moist and warm environment, the drugs will degrade or lose potency FASTER than the expiration date. And generics and brand name products may have different expiration depending on materials used in the formulation process, even for the exact same ingredient. So the expiration on drug X from company A may be 5 years, but may only be 2 years from company B.

That "Blanket" statement is ridiculous as all drugs degrade at different rates and some have dangerous degradation by-products. I can guarantee that no prescription drug lasts 15 years at room temperature. Most last 2 years before the potency is considered low, some may last 3-4 years. 5 is typically about as long as a drug will last (Under IDEAL conditions). 15 years is just absurd. While the drugs may be "Safe" as in no dangerous degradation products, they will certainly no be "Effective" in that they will have lost most, if not all of their potency.

"I can tell you that information is 100% INCORRECT."
Bold and very wrong statement! I will take my chances on information from many sources that disagree with you.

So you have conducted your own clinical trials that have trumped the ones the army did for the federal government? I guess I missed that press release. Plus you contradict yourself in your own damning of widely accepted information. I personally would not take something 15 years old simply because they will lose potency. I would not think twice about using something like a anti-inflammatory or allergy med that is several years past their "expiration" date.

My only original point was it is silly to be worrying about your meds expiring at some point in the future when you will have used them before that time. Also telling people with chronic conditions that their expired meds will "hurt" them and lead them to not take them can be dangerous. Someone that takes a blood pressure pill that is 2-3 years past the expiration date is far better off even if the med may have lost some low percentage of its original potency. Plus generics only have to be within 20% high and 20% low of the name brand drug. So it really makes a minimal amount of difference if they lose some potency. Meds like antiarrhythmics are something I would prefer to not be many years old. Again if you don't have the money to purchase new then it's better than not taking anything

you guys are talking about theories only. as a health professional, you could talk about possibilities. NOT CHANCES ! Regarding the expiration date on the rx bottle, it's just generated by the system automatically when it was dispensed. let's say it's one year or six months after the dispensing date. What does it mean? the drug on the shelf is expiring next month, it turns out that it will be expiring next year when it came to your rx bottle.

do I need insurance to get this price?

aeiouy said: Some of you missed the point where the FDA did an actual test at the request of the Army who had a massive supply of drugs that were used for the test, and effectivenss 15 years out were tested.

In 1985 the military had reached a point where its store of drugs was worth about $1 billion. FDA scientists were called on to help determine which drugs could be safely used beyond listed expiration dates. The FDA tests showed that out of more than 100 tested drugs, about 90 percent of them were still fully potent and safe well past their expiration date, and in some cases for YEARS past that date.

Yet some people seem to choose to ignore this and make their own claims.

rushhound said:
Find you "one" drug, how about ANY generic drug. THey only have to be within 20% high or low to be considered equivalent to the branded drug. I am surprised as a pharmacist you don't know that?

http://www.roadback.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/education.display/display_id/120.html
In bioequivalence studies, the goal of testing is to determine if the drugs are functionally equivalent. The FDA requires that any approved drug be effective within a 20% range of the original patented or brand name drug. This means that the effectiveness may be 20% greater or 20% less effective than the brand name so that two generic drugs could contain as much as a 40% difference from each other. Therefore, a drug may be legally chemically equivalent but not at the same time clinically equivalent. A study run on a generic of the anti-seizure, Tegretol, found the generic allowed breakthrough seizures

I think I'll chime in here. The summary you posted from the Road Back Foundation is not totally correct. Bioequivalence is not the same as milligram strength nor is it the same as effectiveness. +/- 20% bioequivalence does not mean a margin of +/- 20% drug content (dose/mg strength) nor is it +/- 20% effective (efficacy). Bioequivalence usually compares the peak concentration or time of absorption into the body, which is bioavailability.

Though some of the information that the Road Back Foundation says is true, using a website as a point of reference is not always accurate since it is the author's opinion and interpretation of the studies; and its not even a well respected healthcare website. Its just like saying Wikipedia is always right. Neither is primary, secondary, or even tertiary literature (ie JAMA, Goodman & Gilman, USP etc...)

Anyways... I'm amazed to see alendronate on the $9 list! It was approved and has become generic only since February.

Legin said: rushhound said:
Find you "one" drug, how about ANY generic drug. THey only have to be within 20% high or low to be considered equivalent to the branded drug. I am surprised as a pharmacist you don't know that?

http://www.roadback.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/education.display/display_id/120.html
In bioequivalence studies, the goal of testing is to determine if the drugs are functionally equivalent. The FDA requires that any approved drug be effective within a 20% range of the original patented or brand name drug. This means that the effectiveness may be 20% greater or 20% less effective than the brand name so that two generic drugs could contain as much as a 40% difference from each other. Therefore, a drug may be legally chemically equivalent but not at the same time clinically equivalent. A study run on a generic of the anti-seizure, Tegretol, found the generic allowed breakthrough seizures

I think I'll chime in here. The summary you posted from the Road Back Foundation is not totally correct. Bioequivalence is not the same as milligram strength nor is it the same as effectiveness. +/- 20% bioequivalence does not mean a margin of +/- 20% drug content (dose/mg strength) nor is it +/- 20% effective (efficacy). Bioequivalence usually compares the peak concentration or time of absorption into the body, which is bioavailability.

Though some of the information that the Road Back Foundation says is true, using a website as a point of reference is not always accurate since it is the author's opinion and interpretation of the studies; and its not even a well respected healthcare website. Its just like saying Wikipedia is always right. Neither is primary, secondary, or even tertiary literature (ie JAMA, Goodman & Gilman, USP etc...)

Anyways... I'm amazed to see alendronate on the $9 list! It was approved and has become generic only since February.

The "Bio-Equivalent" statement is that drugs must be STATISTICALLY the same with respect to AUC (Area under the curve). A drug that is + or - 20% high or low is likely NOT going to be medically equivalent (Statistically).

Legin said: rushhound said: Anyways... I'm amazed to see alendronate on the $9 list! It was approved and has become generic only since February..

This one, WalMart is actually taking a loss on. Acquisition cost for EVERY pharmacy is around $17, give or take.

rigor said: you know what sucks they will charge you full price if you present an insurance card. i've had so many places charge $15.00 or $15.50 for endocet or roxicet or hydrocodone and i go home and look at the insurance company a few days later and sure enough. charged $15.50 - co-pay $15.00 - agreed price $15.00 - AETNA paid $0.00


pisses me off to no end that i could have just paid cash or $4.00 so YMMV. of course one that needs such above meds are in pain lots of it; so we're not on top of our thinking cap at the moment.that pharmacy is cheating you. they're supposed to charge you the actual price if less than your co pay or $4 for generics listed. it's supposed to be done that way for years, not just now. you may want to make sure that prescription is on the $4 list and ask them how much b4 you pay the co pay.

kimdiman said:
you guys are talking about theories only. as a health professional, you could talk about possibilities. NOT CHANCES ! Regarding the expiration date on the rx bottle, it's just generated by the system automatically when it was dispensed. let's say it's one year or six months after the dispensing date. What does it mean? the drug on the shelf is expiring next month, it turns out that it will be expiring next year when it came to your rx bottle.

You are confusing two differnet things.

First is the manufaturers expiration date. This actually means something. As mentioned before it is the time frame in which the manufacturer guarantees the drug potency when stored at the labelled conditions.

Second is some states require an "Expiration" on the label of the actual prescription vial you receive as a patient. Ideally it should represent the expiration of the actual lot of medication you received. Since that would ential someone entering the expiration date for every lot of medication for every drug in the entire store (Which changes daily as orders are received from the wholesaler), that almost never happens. Typically the compter sytem will default to a 6 or 12 month date which has no bearing on the actual expiration. It is entirely possible for a medicine to "Expire" tomorrow but the computer system will give the default 12 month date.

In some states it is actually illegal to dispense medications BEFORE they expire. In New Jersey for example, a pharmacist can not dispense a product if it is going to expire within 60 days. THe position is the patient will likely need the 60 days to use up the medicine. And yes the state board of pharmacy comes in and inspects pharmacies for this. And they give out a fine (I believe its' $200 per violation) to the pharmacy if it dispenses these products. This varies from state to state.

And lastly, the Wal-Mart is is composed mostly (~90%) of older generic drugs that have been available at low price levels for quite some time. There are some drugs on the list (~10%) which are "newer" generic drugs that do represent some level of being a bargain. But not the majority of the list.

I can't stand WalMart. Its always a 10-15 minute wait for my prescriptions. I go to a local independent pharmacy thats super-fast and they know me by name! I don't care if it costs me an extra couple of bucks. Customer service is worth a helluva lot more than $2.

I posted on the wrong board, no text, sorry new member...