Pain relievers … cold medicine … and drugs for heartburn. Americans spend more than seven billion dollars a year on these
over-the-counter medicines.
"The prices can be very high," says one consumer.
Another says, "I think they're pretty high."
Consumer Reports ShopSmart wanted to find out just where you can get the "Best Drugstore Deals.
Jody Rohlena with Consumer Reports ShopSmart says, "We had shoppers compare prices at big chains like Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens. We also had them check out Target and Walmart, as well as independent pharmacies."
At stores across the country, shoppers checked prices on
over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines, as well as pain relievers and treatments for heartburn.
Jody says, "We found that in every case, Target and Walmart had the lowest prices."
For example, a bottle of 30 Claritin Reditabs cost $24.70 at Walgreens, versus $19.41 at Walmart. That's more than a five-dollar savings!
And a 65-tablet bottle of Zantac 150 maximum strength heartburn tablets was $24.34 at an independent pharmacy, compared to $15.74 at Target! That's more than an eight-dollar savings!
And ShopSmart found you can save even more if you buy
store-brand over-the-counter medicines. Again, Walmart and Target had the best prices. The savings are impressive. Take Zantac 150 again. At Target it costs 24 cents per tablet. But the store brand is just seven cents a tablet - a fraction of the cost.
Where will you pay the most for over-the-counter medicine? ShopSmart found independent drugstores usually had the highest prices, but big national drugstore chains charge just about as much.