We buy more cough and cold remedies than any other type of over-the-counter medicine. Pain relievers come next, followed by heartburn medicine. Consumer Reports ShopSmart says you can save big on these drugs, if you know where you shop.
Pain relievers, cold medicine, and drugs for heartburn, Americans spend more than seven billion dollars a year on these over-the-counter medicines.
Consumer Reports ShopSmart wanted to find out just where you can get the "Best Drugstore Deals."
At stores across the country, shoppers checked prices on over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines, as well as pain relievers and treatments for heartburn.
They found that Target and Walmart had lower prices in every case.
For example, a bottle of 30 Claritin Reditabs cost $24.70 at Walgreens, versus $19.41 at Walmart. That's more than a $5 savings!
And a 65-tablet bottle of Zantac 150 maximum strength heartburn tablets was $24.34 at an independent pharmacy, compared to $15.74 at Target! That's more than an $8 savings!
And ShopSmart found you can save even more if you buy store-brand over-the-counter medicines. Again, Walmart and Target had the best prices. The savings are impressive. Take Zantac 150 again. At Target it costs 24 cents per tablet. But the store brand is just seven cents a tablet - a fraction of the cost.
Where will you pay the most for over-the-counter medicine? ShopSmart found independent drugstores usually had the highest prices, but big national drugstore chains charge just about as much.
