A Descriptive Analysis of OTC Drug Prices in Southern Arizona Pharmacies

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the prices of brand versus generic OTC drug products in a variety of pharmacies and to compare the differences in lower income areas. Subjects: Over-the-counter products available in both brand and house generic forms in all pharmacies. House generic was defined as a line of products sold strictly by a company and its affiliates. Methods: Prices were collected across one week from all stores and locations, in each identical product. Once all the data was collected for the brand and generic medications, the data was evaluated using t tests. Results: The house generic brands (mean = $6.21) were significantly cheaper (p=2.14 x 10^-23) than the brand products (mean = $10.84 ). Also, generic drug prices are significantly cheaper at grocery stores (p=2.19 x 10^-11). Lastly, The price differences in all four areas were not significantly different in each of the brand and generic calculations (p=0.837 and p=0.910, respectively). Conclusions: House generic brands are significantly cheaper than brand products in all pharmacies in Arizona. In addition, all four areas of Arizona had similar brand and generic OTC prices.