common sense for the common good

Loving Your Captor An Itty Bit

October 5th, 2006 by Vihar Sheth
Posted in Environment, Health, Responsibility, Society

I wouldn’t necessarily call it love but we have been help captive by Wal-Mart for some time now and parts of me (tee hee) are warming up to the giant lawnmower of small business in America. The company is still the devil (and purist) of capitalism but it is starting to give its subjects a little bit of candy.

Do I still disagree with how it does business? Yes, but the company is making strides, and for that they deserve due credit. The two biggest progressive moves being led by Wal-Mart are (1) a reduction in packaging by its suppliers by at least 5% and (2) an offering of a 30-day supply 314 different prescription drugs for $4. Let’s talk about number two.

Wal-Mart has gotten Target to follow suit and Walgreen and CVS to stupidly claim Wal-Mart’s initiative wouldn’t impact their business. I for one hope it does. There’s no reason retail chains as big as Walgreen and CVS should remain whores of the prescription drug industry. If Wal-Mart can look past profiteering to give consumers one thing they’ve never had with respect to drugs then so can other large companies.

The initiative is starting only in Florida with a state-wide roll out coming within weeks. Hopefully the program is successful for Wal-Mart and the consumer. Maybe in a year or two we’ll see it go national. This article gives more details on the retailer’s plans and provides a list of which drugs will be available at the reduced price.

Public Citizen, a Washington-based healthcare watchdog group, said Wal-Mart’s efforts in reducing prescription drug costs for Americans is a “step forward” for the retailer.

“At the same time, it leads us to ask why Wal-Mart couldn’t do it earlier and why can’t they roll it out nationally,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, deputy director of the group.

“To me the question illustrates just how high the costs of prescription drugs really are if a large retailer can come in and knock down prices this low,” Lurie said.

Lurie speaks the truth, but forward progress is just that. And it feels damn good after years of lip service, non-action and profiting at the expense of America’s less fortunate.



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