Ritalin included in Wal-Mart's $4 bargain drugs
Perhaps attention deficit disorder led many Wal-Mart's pharmacy staffers to overlook the generic equivalent of Ritalin, methylphenidate, on its list of $4 prescription drugs.
Mrmedsaver.com recently ended up debating a Wal-Mart pharmacist who refused to believe the evidence of the store's own list.
Nonetheless, Wal-Mart does sell 60 tablets of 5 mg and 10 mg each for $4.
Target and Kroger, among other national chains, also offer the drug at the bargain price. According to Consumer Reports, the drug isn't all that expensive even if not included in a $4 plan, though; it found 5 mg tablets for $26 for a 60 pill supply, 10 mg for $31.
Any hint of controversy over the low cost comes from the fact that methylphenidate shares the DEA's Class II drug classification with known villains like cocaine, opium and morphine.
According to the National Institute On Drug Abuse, the medication is sometimes abused by students wishing to do better in school, lose weight, stay awake, or get a speed-like high. The pills are commonly crushed and snorted or injected.
Having taken Ritalin (by prescription), I'm skeptical that its potential for abuse warrants comparison with the 'hard' drugs. A couple of stout espressos can take you to the same place. Coffee doesn't offer the thrill of the illicit, though. Nonetheless, I'm not surprised companies such as Wal-Mart soft-pedal the fact that they distribute drugs that could be abused.
For those who need ADD medication, $4 is a very generous price. Those who simply desire it, will, unfortunately, also enjoy the bargain.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
6-08-2009 @ 2:30PM
tt said...
" hits" of ritilan and then crossed out but STILL in the article? what are you thinking? you make it look like everyone is out for drugs. Bunch of *amn iditiots!!!!
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6-08-2009 @ 2:27PM
Jennifer said...
Listen, this is not Wal-mart soft peddeling a drug that doctors perscribe like it's rolaids. Any child that doesn't fit the mold of what our teachers want are labeled ADD or ADHD. They told me for a couple of years that my son was ADHD and I put him on ritilan for about 3 weeks. There were daily crying fits and sucide threats and this was for a 8 year old boy. I took him off it and he out grew the "behaviors"( eg: acting like a boy). God forbid we have to handle the energy of a boy but then expect him to be a man when he grows up it's not going to happen. People should deal with the energy of the child and train him or her the right way in dealing with the added energy. There are some exceptions to this rule I'm sure but they are few and far between.
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6-08-2009 @ 3:12PM
Paula said...
Jennifer, if your son had that many problems with Ritilan then the dosage was incorrect or he was improperly diagnosed. An excitable, over active child is not necessarily suffering from ADHD. This is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain that most kids outgrow by the time they reach adulthood. My son (now 32) was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 7 by a competant physician who performed all the necessary tests and monitored his dosage and behavior changes. He went thru none of the things your son did and after only 3 months on the drug, he made the honor roll in school. He stayed on Ritilan for 3 years and was slowly weaned off of it. He did just fine. It's an excellant drug when used and monitored properly.
6-08-2009 @ 3:23PM
Stephanie said...
Paula -- While I appreciate your support, I do want to say that ADHD is not something you grow out of. People used to think it was, but recent brain-scanning techniques show that it's not. It appears that your son learned to cope, but ADHD is actually a structural difference in the brain that is inherited and is for life. I actually did very well in school. Social life, however, was difficult because I have a hard time sorting through all the non-verbal cues that come at you in social situations, and because I had to spend a LOT of time on homework in order to get good grades. Once I no longer had the structure of school or a job (I stay home with the kids), my ADHD was more apparent, and I'm very grateful for the medicine that is available. It has improved my life, and that of my family, in many ways.
6-08-2009 @ 6:58PM
PattiR said...
You are so right! Bless you for being an advocate for your son.
6-09-2009 @ 4:21PM
Corey said...
Well said. Our society most certainly does not want little boys to ever grow up to be "men" since anything remotely "masculine" has been labeled as evil. God forbid little boys should BE little boys anymore. They are supposed to be docile little girls now.
6-09-2009 @ 5:26PM
swtbabybluz said...
In my area, in order to even receive a diagnosis of ADHD, a child has to see many different doctors, psychologists and therapists before a psychiatrist will prescribe ritalin. This is only after behavior modification therapy and diet concerns are addressed. In my support group I have yet to find a parent whose child was prescribed on the first visit to a doctor without a battery of tests. You really started your child on ritalin after one visit and no behavioral tests or therapy sessions?
6-09-2009 @ 6:03PM
Nicole said...
Kudos Jennifer. You are so right. Last I checked, and I am NOT old, our parents DEALT with everything we grew up with. Fits... too much energy... the flu... skinned knees etc.
Today if you skin your knee and don't take your child to a doctor you are a bad parent! And what is this with kids seeing psychologists and psychiatrists???? It ranks right up there wiith giving them drugs. My god. Does anyone realize the low percentage of troubled pre-teens and children that even require this? It's almost nonexistent!
Putting your child on drugs for "an overactive personality" is tantamount to creating an addict. It's just too easy these days to just label something and provide a drug for it. At this rate the human race will become so weak and dependent on the easy way that we may not be able to survive larger issues. Life is just far too easy these days.... ANd I feel parents are no longer parenting.
6-08-2009 @ 2:51PM
nancy said...
the author of this article should remember that wal mart is merely filling a prescription. they didn't prescibe it. wal mart takes alot of crap for being who they are. but they were the first to put prescriptions at a very affordable price. only after their program was so successful did the other retailers follow suit.
i think the comments in this article were unwarranted.
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6-08-2009 @ 2:55PM
Exactly said...
Nancy you are exactly correct!
6-08-2009 @ 8:46PM
Kristy said...
I like the last paragraph myself...the one that makes it sound like you only have to walk up to a pharmacist and s/he will just hand the drug to you for a mere $4!
Ummm...in reality you have to get a special prescription for this medication. My son used to take it as did my daughter and both times (there is a 16 year difference) I had to pick up a special prescription and take it to the pharmacy myself. The doctors aren't even allowed to call/e-mail the prescription as it is a federally controlled drug.
6-08-2009 @ 3:00PM
Stephanie said...
I resent the tone of the article -- that doses are "hits" and that a $4 price increases the number who will buy it to abuse.
For one thing, ADHD is real. I have it, and two of my three kids have it. Being diagnosed -- finally -- at the age of 38 was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. While I have no doubt that some people are incorrectly diagnosed with ADHD, studies show that it's probably under-diagnosed rather than over-diagnosed.
For another thing, Wal-Mart's providing a low price on a drug that improves lives does not mean they are flooding the illegal market with it. YOU STILL CAN'T BUY RITALIN WITHOUT A PRESCRIPTION, AT $4 A MONTH OR ANY OTHER PRICE. What's more, you have to get a new, paper, prescription every month -- no scripts written for convenient refills like with allergy medicine -- and deliver it to the pharmacy in person. Kind of an undue burden for people who are not very organized to begin with....
Finally, and the author did get this right, caffeine delivers much more of a "hit" than Ritalin does. What's more, caffeine is much more addictive. Neither I (who take Dexedrine) nor my children (who take Ritalin) suffer from withdrawal symptoms if we miss a dose. But I know lots of people who get headaches if they miss their morning coffee.
I suspect that many of those who "abuse" Ritalin that they buy on the street actually have ADHD and could get a diagnosis -- and a prescription -- if they'd just talk to a physician. As I said, the studies show that it's probably under-diagnosed. America needs to get its medical advice from physicians rather than from Tom Cruise or sensationalist "journalists."
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6-08-2009 @ 3:06PM
Pam said...
I for one am sick of hearing about it should be harder to get some drugs because some people abuse them.....I don't and it makes me angry that I have to be inconvenienced and doctors afraid to prescribe necessary medicines due to the behavior or some. Hey, if someone is stupid enough to use drugs they don't need just to get a high...let them. If they should O.D.from the abuse....shame on them......serves them right. It is time people be responsible for their own actions and stop hindering society to protect the stupid from their own actions.
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6-08-2009 @ 4:54PM
momzwheels said...
Amen, Sister. The problems, and all the extras you have to go throught just to get a prescription filled is a bunch of crap.
6-08-2009 @ 6:31PM
Connie said...
OMG! I'm sooo happy to read your comment! It's so awful "feeling" like a criminal because of other people's behavior.
6-08-2009 @ 3:20PM
Michael said...
Wal-mart is a good store I like it very much
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6-08-2009 @ 3:44PM
Betsy said...
I don't know what study the above commenter has been reading but it is definitely over-diagnosed. Back then ADHD was controlled by a diet. My aunt who is one of the most severe cases I have ever come across, was on a specialized diet. You eat certain things at certain times of the day and you did not eat after 6:00. Anyhow, we live in a microwave society where everyone wants a "quick" fix and expects meds to fix everything. Right here right now is the American motto it seems these days. Well, ritalin is abused and so is food. You see so many obese people these days but I don't see where they are restricting food for those overeaters.
I blame the public school system. They expect all kids to sit their and act the exact same. Kids are not suppose to be busy and they are not suppose to talk. The classroom is geared more towards girls than boys. Boys need self stimulation to rid their bodies of extra energy and angst that "most" not all, girls lack. My mother in law taught school for 35 years and she said if you can't teach a busy kid then you really can't teach. All the teachers now complain if a kid is busy and they demand that they are put on some type of behavioral drug. as far as coffee having more of a kick but I don't see the FDA regulating coffee and demanding it be prescribed. Try behavioral therpay instead of drugging your kids. You would be amazed at the difference.
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6-08-2009 @ 5:47PM
Cathy said...
I disagree with several things you had to say. First of all, teachers can INSIST upon medicating all they want, but a PHYSICIAN has to diagnose the ADHD or ADD and then prescribe the medicatioin, not the teacher. I am not for automatically medicating all "behaviour issues", but, working with six and seven year old as a reading tutor, I can tell you that in many cases the "behaviour" stems from the fact that they can't focus and are frustrated - GIRLS and BOYS. Three of the at-risk for failure students that I worked with were diagnosed with ADD or ADHD and their reading scores skyrocketed! In most schools, before a child is referred for testing they are observed by teachers, principal, social workers, etc.. This referral is not off the cuff just because a teacher does not like the energy of a child.
There are homeopathic and structure oriented ways of dealing with a child's ADHD, but 99% of the parents of these children that they don't want to medicate, also don't find other ways of dealilng with the situation. They say "it's a phase" or "he'll grow out of it" and do nothing. Then these children, out of their own frustration at not being ABLE to keep up with the work become a constant interruption and disturbance to all of the other children trying to learn. Staff are constantly dealing with the chaos they cause, when their time could be much better spent educating them.
Some parents don't want to medicate their child and "lable" them, without fully understanding the worse lable the child is getting for their behaviour.
6-08-2009 @ 3:35PM
Phillip Logan said...
Hillary Clinton said Wal-Mart is a "mixed blessing" and, tho I usually don't agree with her, she's right about that. Their support for making so many products in China is not good for America. However, in the case of their pharmacies selling generic Ritalin they are 100% NOT at fault. Their drug store departments fill legal prescriptions, just like they're supposed to. And that they fill a lot of prescriptions for just $4.00 is an added plus. Wal-Mart has done nothing wrong here. --Phillip Logan --P.S. They did do something wrong at the store I shop at when they put a woman in a wheelchair up front who showed everybody who was boss, but that PC mistake was corrected.
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6-08-2009 @ 3:37PM
Eileen said...
Why don't they commend Walmart instead of taking that smarny tone. Walmart has done people in America a great service by making it possible to buy your medications without going broke. MAny prescriptions can be had for $4.00 and $10.00 for a 3 month supply. My insurance company insisted I pay a $20 copay every month for diabetic supplis. Thank God for Walmart!
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