Promotions end for consumers who transfer prescriptions

By Laura Gunderson | The Oregonian/OregonLive 
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on July 21, 2012 at 3:00 PM, updated July 21, 2012 at 3:22 PM

View full sizeLaura Gunderson/The OregonianPharmacies in Oregon can no longer offer deals to customers who transfer prescriptions. Such promotions, offering free gas, groceries and gift cards, gained popularity in recent years. However, local pharmacists said that when customers constantly switched prescriptions it became difficult for them to track what drugs they were taking and how they would interact.

In the past few years, many consumers have become expert pharmacy hoppers. 

If Walgreens offered a $25 gift card for transferring a prescription, off they'd trot to Walgreens. When Safeway made a similar deal a few months later, they'd switch their regular prescription to the grocer. The promotions were plentiful, offered by such big players as Fred Meyer, Target and Rite Aid -- each offering a range of extras, from free groceries to gasoline gift cards. 

But in Oregon, such hopping has been halted. 

The Oregon Board of Pharmacy voted last month to fine or revoke the licenses of pharmacies that offer promotions encouraging prescription-holders to switch. It also forbids retailers from guarantees on how quickly prescriptions will be ready -- programs that sometimes resulted in varying "punishments" for pharmacy employees when deadlines weren't met. 

The changes were spurred by a survey the state board offered to its 5,700 licensed pharmacists last summer. The board was surprised when 1,300 responded online and another 500 sent in written responses, all sharing their concerns about unsafe working conditions that they felt put patients at risk. 

"Every time a pharmacist dispenses a prescription, they review the patient's list of drugs to be sure there are no inconsistencies and that the new drug won't interact with another," said Gary Schnabel, executive director of the Oregon Pharmacy Board and past president of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. 

"Every time a consumer switches pharmacies it breaks that chain," he said. "And every time you break that chain, a patient is more at risk." 

Transfer offers became common and quite popular over the past few years, although Schnabel said he's not seen any data outlining the number of consumers who participated in them locally. 

As with other deals through the recession, cash-strapped consumers welcomed ways to offset prescription costs with the variety of bonuses. So-called "mommy bloggers," who often share money-saving tips, regularly highlighted prescription-switching deals. One site that collects information geared for women readers recently included this "tip": 

"Whenever Target runs their prescription promotion, my mom gets extra coupons from her friends and family. She has their prescriptions filled using the coupon, which gives her a $10 gift card for each prescription... The promotions are a great way to help your dollars go further." 

Schnabel said that during hearings on the issue he heard of a consumer who kept filling a prescription that was no longer needed to take advantage of the promotions. 

In general the programs were offered at larger retail pharmacies. Independents, which make up about 200 of the 750 retail pharmacies statewide, didn't typically offer the transfer deals, Schnabel said. 

Signs went up recently at Walgreens warning pharmacy customers that it could no longer honor its $25 transfer coupons. Other retailers such as Fred Meyer, which offered such deals a few times a year, will simply stop the promotions. 

Fred Meyer spokeswoman Melinda Merrill said the grocer will continue its practice of rewarding loyalty-card holders with points toward gas discounts each time they fill prescriptions. 

"These retailers are creative and they can still do all kinds of marketing around rewarding those who stick around," Schnabel said. "The point of this rule is not to rein in what businesses are doing, we want them to be healthy, too -- just not at the expense of the public interest."