For consumers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee, the seven most popularly prescribed antibiotics just got easier to swallow.

Consumers with prescriptions for these drugs can now get 14 days of the drugs for free at 684 locations of Publix Super Markets, Inc. in the five southern states. There is no limit on the number of prescriptions that consumers can fill for free.

This service is of particular importance to families because the antibiotics account for almost 50 percent of the generic, pediatric prescriptions filled at Publix. The drugs offered for free are Amoxicillin, Cephalexin, Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim (SMZ-TMP), Ciprofloxacin (excluding ciprofloxacin XR), Penicillin VK, Ampicillin and Erythromycin (excluding Ery-Tab). To find a store with a pharmacy near you, access http://store.publix.com/publix/

Publix received the highest numerical score among supermarket pharmacies in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Retail Pharmacy Satisfaction StudySM. Study based on 6,543 total responses, and measures 8 supermarkets. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of customers surveyed Oct.-Nov., 2006

OTHER DRUG ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE
Drug Companies
Nearly all the major drug companies offer a patient assistance program to underwrite the cost of their prescription drugs. You can ask your pharmacist directly for information about applying for these company-direct discounts. Most have income restrictions yet offer the discounts or free drugs on a continuous basis. Some drug companies require your doctor to apply for the help for you; in other programs the discounts apply only to Medicare enrollees. In general those who do not benefit from ay private or publicly funded drug benefits qualify.

Discount Drug Programs
To find out more about drug discount programs, which offer discounts from a variety of drug companies, ask your pharmacist, physician or other health care provider or go to peoples-law.org. The programs usually work by requiring consumers to pay a flat fee, usually $10 per prescription, and a deeply discounted price for the drugs. Savings can be anywhere from $20 to $700 for name-brand drugs.

K-Mart and Wal-Mart
Some specific chains are also offering discounted drug programs, in particular K-Mart and Wal-Mart stores. All requests must include a doctor-ordered prescription and cover many of the most commonly used drugs. Wal-Mart is also offering a number of generic prescription drugs for a flat price of $4 each as a way to increase purchases in other departments. Other major chains are developing discount drug programs.