The Business Ethics Blog

A major U.S. supermarket chain is going to be filling prescriptions at no charge. Price for the drug itself: $0. Fee for filling the presecription: $0.
Publix to offer 7 popular prescription antibiotics for free

Seven popular antibiotics will be available free from Publix supermarkets for people with prescriptions, even if they have a health insurance provider that would pay for them, the company and Gov. Charlie Crist said Monday.
Fourteen-day supplies of the seven drugs, among the most commonly prescribed, will be available at all 684 of the chain’s pharmacies in five states. Publix said it is not limiting the number of prescriptions that customers may fill for free.

Why are they doing it? Motives are notoriously hard to read, but no one’s doing much to suggest this is anything other than a loss-leader to get consumers into their stores. Is that bad? Ask yourself this: with many millions of uninsured children in the affected states, which would you rather Publix offered for free, to get consumers into their stores? Pharmaceuticals, or Coca Cola?

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Thanks to Consumerist