Free For All

The newest trend in pharmacy and prescription marketing is: Give away the medication. Publix, a supermarket group in the South, is the latest chain to start giving away seven of the most common antibiotics in order to drum up business. The antibiotics available are amoxicillin, cephalexin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin, penicillin VK, ampicillin and erythromycin, the Associated Press reports. Most Publix stores are in Florida, but others are located in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. In other words, a big swath of the Southeast. The plan mimics one already in place at Wal-Mart and Target, which sell similar medications for only four dollars.