Business
Drug bidding site established
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 2, 2007
An Oshkosh, Wis.-based startup company is trying to change the way consumers purchase their prescription medications.
On BidRx.com, patients or physicians enter prescription information, and pharmacies respond with the lowest price they can sell that particular drug. No orders are filled without a prescription, and all participating pharmacies are checked for proper licensing in the state where they are domiciled, said Tom Kellenberger, PharmD, vice president of sales and marketing for BidRx.
But Douglas Hoey, vice president of the National Community Pharmacists Assn., said he is concerned that this type of marketplace is making prescription medication "too commoditized. It's almost like medications are like M & M candies."
While Clarence Chou, MD, president of the Wisconsin Medical Society, agrees with some of those concerns, he thinks BidRx has created an interesting concept that should be closely watched.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/07/02/bibf0702.htm.
