• by Sarah Mahoney , March 2, 2009

A group of doctors is asking supermarket chains to reconsider their use of "free antibiotics" promotions, saying the widespread marketing gimmick may actually make people sicker.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have written to supermarkets with free antibiotics promotions, including major chains like Wegmans, Publix, Meijer, Giant-Eagle and Stop & Shop.

"As influenza season shifts into high gear, with 24 states now reporting widespread activity," the IDSA worries that stores linking the drug freebies to cold and flu season are confusing consumers, because "antibiotics do not work against these viral illnesses. Furthermore, antibiotics can have serious side effects, and their misuse is contributing to the increase in antibiotic-resistant infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)."

The group says that supermarkets need to be more responsible in how they promote antibiotics, as the problem of antibiotic overuse increases: "Taking an antibiotic when you don't need it won't help you, and may in fact do more harm than good." Now that the drugs are free, it's possible that since so many consumers believe the drugs cure colds and flu, they will then pressure doctors and clinics to prescribe them. Experts estimate that there are already "tens of thousands" of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions written annually.

Instead, the group urges supermarkets to promote free flu shots rather than free antibiotics, and asks that they distribute CDC literature explaining overuse. Flu shots have been proven to prevent influenza, and result in substantially fewer missed days of work, but are underused. "Millions of doses were thrown away at the end of the last two flu seasons," it says.

Other organizations, including Consumer Reports, have spoken out against the increasingly common supermarket marketing practice. "Every antibiotic prescribed unnecessarily increases the risk of a future infection from a bacterial mutation that is resistant to antibiotics," it says in its health blog. "Consumer activists supported by Consumers Union have long led a national campaign to raise awareness of deadly health-care-acquired infections. We expect hospitals and doctors to figure out how to prevent such disastrous infections, but pharmacies and consumers should help too."

Drug promotions have become more important to supermarkets, as they struggle to find new ways to compete with supercenters. Wegmans, for example, says that in addition to its free antibiotics, it will now expand its $4 one-month prescriptions (and $10 for 90 days) to the 390 most common generic drugs, including ibuprofen, metformin and lovastatin.