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Drugstore.Com, Inc. Responds to Report on High Drug Costs, Offers All Alaska Residents 5 Percent Off Prescription Drugs

Posted on: Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 18:00 CDT

drugstore.com, inc. (Nasdaq:DSCM), a licensed pharmacy and leading online provider of pharmacy, health, beauty and vision products, is offering Alaska residents 5 percent off of its already low prescription prices in response to a recent report that shows uninsured Anchorage residents pay as much as 61 percent more for drugs than the federal government pays for the same medications.

The report, released in July, is called "Paying the Price" and documents what adults under the age of 65 in 35 U.S. cities pay locally for 10 popular drugs. It also compares those costs to what the government pays for drugs for veterans, government employees and retirees. The report was compiled in the spring of 2006 by the Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AkPIRG), which participated in a nationwide survey conducted by the National Association of State PIRGs.

According to AkPIRG, nine of the drugs included in this year's survey, which also were surveyed in 2004, have increased in cost by 11 percent. Put another way, AkPIRG says, those drug prices "increased 81 percent faster than the general rate of inflation between 2004 and 2006."

In its report, AkPIRG advises Alaskans to shop around for the best prices on their prescriptions, and specifically mentions the drugstore.com(TM) online pharmacy as an alternative to higher-priced brick and mortar drug stores.

As a fully licensed facility exercising competent, safe pharmacy practices in compliance with federal and state laws and regulations, the drugstore.com pharmacy has been awarded Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site certification by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. The pharmacy launched in 1999 and is licensed to dispense prescriptions to customers in all 50 states.

"We already have mail-order pharmacy customers in Alaska who know about our low prices, safety, reliability and the privacy aspects of doing business with us," said Matthew Stepka, vice president of pharmacy. "So when we heard about the high cost of drugs in Anchorage, we wanted to help all Alaskans control their escalating health care costs."

The drugs included in the 2006 survey are Allegra, Ambien, Lexapro, Lipitor, Norvasc, Premarin, Singulair, Synthroid, Zithromax and Zyrtec. According to the report, uninsured consumers in the Northeast region pay the highest prices for their drugs, followed by consumers in the West, South and Midwest. The drugstore.com pharmacy charges all customers the same prices for the same drugs, regardless of geographic location, Stepka said.

Anchorage residents, who purchase their prescriptions at www.drugstore.com rather than through local pharmacies, can already expect to save from about 6.3 percent for Allegra to as much as 43.4 percent for Synthroid, or an average of about 15.9 percent for all 10 drugs.

"When you add another 5 percent savings on top of our already low prices, and consider the free online information resources and services we offer, such as refill reminder e-mails, an online price checker, a generic drug information database, our Ask a Pharmacist information service, and 24-hour access to our licensed pharmacists, we think it's a very compelling offer," Stepka said.

For more information about this special program, or to participate, Alaskans should log onto www.drugstore.com/alaska.

Source: Business Wire

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