Getting Well Gets A Little Cheaper
Monday, August 6th, 2007As a relatively recent addition to the CL full-time payroll, I’m still in benefit limbo until September 1st. So, when I was diagnosed with pneumonia (it’s just walking pneumonia, so I can still get around) earlier today, I asked my doctor for the cheapest antibiotics.
If only I had known about this just a few hours earlier I could have given the doc a list. In a bid to compete with the big box retailers — who jumped on the $5 prescription bandwagon a few months back — Publix has announced that it will give away the 7 most commonly prescribed antibiotics. Free. Gratis. Doesn’t matter who your insurance is with or whether you have other prescriptions at the store. Anyone who read Dawn Morgan’s story a couple months back, saw Sicko, or has had to endure the pangs of insurancelessness — take note.
For the record, none of the drugs Publix is offering free are anywhere near the Top Ten most prescribed (at least according to this 2005 list). 4 antidepressants, 5 painkillers and 1 blood pressure medication head that list. The first antibiotic - Amoxycillin — doesn’t hit until #59.
I will be supplementing my non-free, $30, 5-day Z-Pack with a fine selection of Cuban antibiotic garbanzo bean and chicken soups from my favorite joints. Anyone recommend a good bowl of matsoh ball around town?
