As a means to further assist consumers in affording prescription drugs at a reasonable price, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. announced in a press release on Wednesday that its outlets, as well as Sam's Club, will be some of the first mass-retail stores to offer the medicine Clopidogrel, the generic version of Plavix, starting May 19, 2012.
Clopidogrel, according to the Plavix official website, helps keep blood platelets in the body from sticking together so as to avoid forming clots. It would be prescribed to patients who recently had a heart attack or stroke, or suffer from poor blood circulation in the legs, also known as Peripheral Artery Disease.
Thousands of generic brands of medications are sold at Walmart and Sam's Club across the United States, and hundreds of them through the franchise's Affordable Prescription Program. Via the money-saving program, customers could purchase a 30-day supply of select medications for as low as $4, and a 90-supply of prescribed generic drugs at $10 at "commonly prescribed doses," according to Walmart's press release issued Wednesday.
Through the Affordable Prescription Plan, Walmart estimated that it saved Americans more than $4.8 billion since its launch in 2006, according to the press release. The savings, the organization said, based the savings as compared to how much it cost customers to purchase generic brands of drugs prior to the 2006 launch of the initiative.
"Many of our customers struggle with the cost of health care in America and forego filling prescriptions to make ends meet," Dr. John Agwunobi, president of Walmart U.S. health and wellness, was quoted as saying in the press release. "Walmart is focused on bringing our customers the lowest prices on the products and services they need to stay healthy, including aggressively delivering new generic medications as they are released."
Other generic drugs prescribed at Walmart and Sam's Club include: Ibandronate, the generic version of Boniva, which is taken to prevent and treat osteoporosis; Provigil's generic version, Modafinil, used to treat excessive sleepiness caused by narcolepsy; Montelukast, the generic of Singulair administered to prevent the effects of asthma, including chest tightness, coughing, and wheezing; and the generic counterpart of Lexapro called Escitalopram, for the treatment of depression and generalized anxiety disorder. All descriptions of the medications can be found at the U.S. National Library of Medicine website.
