SELF-MEDICATION CALLED TONIC FOR OTC SALES

AMITY K. MOORE

Supermarket retailers polled informally by SN agreed that consumers have turned to self-medication, thus making over-the-counter drugs more popular.

In turn, they said, self-medication is spurred by recurring conditions that consumers can diagnose without a trip to the physician, expensive doctor bills and time away from work.

The poll was taken to assess reaction to a study undertaken for the Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Association, Washington, that indicated consumers saved $20 billion last year by using nonprescription, OTC drugs.

Results of the study, conducted by Kline & Co., Fairfield, N.J., were released earlier this year at the NDMA's annual meeting and executive conference.

Convenience is what's driving Riser Foods' shoppers to OTC, said Matt Mesok, director of wholesale purchasing and sales at the Bedford Heights, Ohio-based company.

"The consumers who are buying those types of items are well-educated. They're educated enough to handle [self-diagnosis] on their own without having to go to a doctor," Mesok added.

For instance, he mentioned H2 antagonist (acid blockers) products such as Pepcid and Tagamet as those that used to be prescription drugs but are now available OTC. Those names are familiar to consumers who used to purchase them on their prescription plans, he said.

Other retailers, such as Harps Food Stores, Springdale, Ark., also rely on ads and temporary price reductions to drive their OTC sales, according to Sam Richardson, health and beauty care category manager at the independent.

He added that OTC sales are being driven by increased consumer confidence and the proliferation of private-label OTC drugs. "The category's being driven by private label. The customer has realized over the last year that private label is the same thing as the manufacturer brand. It's a lot cheaper and the quality is there," Richardson added.

The study determined that increased public awareness traced to OTC advertising was responsible for the $10 billion increase in health care savings in 1996 compared with 1987.

Dennis Beauchene, co-director of pharmacy at Hannaford Bros., Scarborough, Maine, pointed out that while consumers have realized savings by purchasing OTC items, it's not because the prices are lower on those items. Indeed, his customers have complained that OTC items are often half the strength of similar prescription products and the price is sometimes more.

"I don't doubt that there's a savings, but the savings isn't coming from the price of the drug. It's coming from not having to [pay] to go to the doctor," he added.

The study indicated that the savings were calculated by comparing the average cost of an OTC medicine with the cost of visiting a doctor, buying a prescription drug and hourly wages lost while visiting a physician.