Save on prescription drugs

Over the next two years, brand-name drugs with U.S. sales of about $30 billion could lose patent protection.

Five blockbuster drugs — Flonase, Pravachol, Toprol-XL, Zocor and Zoloft — went generic in 2006, and eight more pharmaceutical superstars are expected to debut as generics by 2008. As a result, consumers, employers and insurers could save nearly $50 billion by 2010.

Pharmacy retailers are jumping on the generic bandwagon. Under Wal-Mart's new headline-making program, you can buy a 30-day supply of more than 140 generics for just $4 per drug. Target says it matches Wal-Mart's prices in most locations. Midwestern discount retailer Meijer will fill prescriptions for some antibiotics, such as penicillin, free.

To find the best deals on the drugs you take, check prices in stores and online. Consumer Reports found that the big discount retailers and online pharmacies affiliated with drugstore chains, such as CVS.com, tend to charge the least. Costco warehouse stores and Costco's Web site had the lowest generic prices in the survey. (You don't have to pay Costco's $50 membership fee to fill your prescriptions.)

Drug prices vary depending on how much you buy and in what form. For example, tablets may be cheaper than capsules, and a 90-day supply may cost less than the typical 30-day prescription. Ask your doctor for a prescription you can buy in bulk, and talk to your pharmacist about the cheapest and safest form of each medication.

Don't be shy about asking your pharmacy if it can meet or beat a competitor's price. You might get a bargain and save yourself the hassle of moving your business elsewhere.

If you buy from pharmacies outside the U.S., you can save up to half the price of brand-name drugs. But importing medications from any foreign country except Canada is illegal. Purchases in Canada must be made in person with a valid U.S. prescription approved by a Canadian doctor.

That legal exception does not extend to buying Canadian drugs over the Internet. It's illegal to order drugs from Canada online, although U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it will no longer routinely seize packages of non-narcotic prescriptions mailed from Canadian pharmacies. It will, however, continue to conduct random searches for counterfeit medications.

Some Canadian sites have been vetted by state governments and scrutinized by federal regulators. Minnesota, New Hampshire, Washington and Wisconsin, for example, have started programs to help state workers and other residents buy low-cost drugs from Canada (go to www.rx.wa.gov or www.minnesotarxconnect.com).

It is not, however, worth the trip just to buy generic drugs. "People aren't going to Canada to save $6," says Stephen Schondelmeyer, director of the PRIME Institute, which studies the economics of the pharmaceutical industry.

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