News Report: A Prescription For Price Relief

A case in point of a situation where personal greed is balanced with compassion and humanity. John

From: Ryan Holderman
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Subject: A rare bird!

Dear One & All:

I found this story very interesting. It was also broadcast on last evening's CBS news. This pharmacist seems to be making a decent living while providing his customers with significant savings. That's probably the heart of the story. He's making a DECENT living rather than living the lavish life style of the moguls of Merck, Caremark, etc.!

We need more like him.

Later, Ryan

CBS News

A Prescription For Price Relief

ASHBY, Minn., Nov. 21, 2005

Sharon Martinson was as concerned as anyone about prescription drugs. After all, she's a professional care giver.

But CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan reports that now that Martinson is 62 and her health has begun to fail, pushing pills became personal.

Her prescriptions came to $800 a month, which she simply couldn't afford.

"I so much as went to the doctor and said 'Is there any thing, any one of these that I can get off of?' and he said 'no,'" Martinson says.

Then, she heard about this tiny pharmacy in the middle of a Minnesota cornfield, where a young pharmacist was offering the same drugs that cost her $800 — for just $200.

His name is Jim Witt. Don't let his quiet demeanor fool you — he's almost single handedly taking on the pharmaceutical industry.

"If my cost for a bottle of pills is, ya know, a dollar," says pharmacist Jim Witt. "Why should I charge $25 for that?"

There's no gimmick. Instead of charging what the drug companies suggest for their generic drugs, he charges about what he pays.

Imagine — drugs near cost.

Witt points to one medicine which costs about $15, as opposed to what a drug company suggests he should charge — $198.

Witt's goal: to try to keep his prices between 35 and 40 percent less than the so-called discount pharmacies.

"Every little helps now days," says customer Harold Larson.

But Witt admits it's a risk. By not charging the mark up on generic drugs, it comes out of Witt's pocket at the end of the day.

"I could be charging more but I wouldn't feel right about it," Witt says.

It started out as just a little home town hospitality, but it's catching on. His corner drug store — the only one in this town of about 500 — is now getting inquiries from all over the country.

He hopes the volume may one day make up for whatever losses he's taking — proof he says that good business doesn't necessarily mean bad medicine.

For Sharon Martinson, it was nothing short of a miracle.

"I was just blessed," Martinson says. "I was just blessed."

A David in a sea of Goliaths, dispensing relief in more ways than one.