Prices tumble as chemist chain Discount Drug Stores enters war with supermarkets | Reviews and Recommendations | The

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Prices tumble as chemist chain Discount Drug Stores enters war with supermarkets
by: Rosie Squires From: The Sunday Mail (Qld) March 18, 2012 12:00AM Send 0 Be the first of your

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A DRUGS war has erupted with a discount chemist chain launching a new range of cheap overthe-counter medicines to lure sales back from supermarkets.
Discount Drug Stores - which has 100 outlets nationally (56 in Queensland) - said it would use its own private label to hit back at supermarket giants that sell cheap Panadol and Nurofen products. "We need to compete with supermarkets given more and more iconic brands are now available in supermarkets," the company's general manager Douglas Kuskopf-Dallas said. He said consumers could buy supermarket brand paracetamol for as little as 70c for 24 tablets.
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Prices tumble as chemist chain Discount Drug Stores enters war with supermarkets | Reviews and Recommendations | The Courier-Mail

24/03/12 9:55 PM

Discount Drug Stores home label range will include ibuprofen and paracetamol, cold and flu remedies and cold-sore creams. Mr Kuskopf-Dallas said he was frustrated supermarket giants were taking his business, but was also concerned Coles and Woolworths were selling pharmaceuticals without having pharmacists on staff. "In a supermarket you can buy as many of the cheap 24-packs of paracetamol as you want," he said. "This makes people assume they are safe to take any amount, when they have strict dose instructions." Mr Kuskopf-Dallas said pharmacists were best-equipped to sell such drugs, which should be banned from supermarkets. "In pharmacy, a pharmacist can refuse a sale, but you don't have that in supermarkets," he said. The discount chain plans to launch its range of 36 products next month. Products will include home brand paracetamol (24 tablets) for $2.49 or 100 tablets for $6.99 compared to $3.49 and $9.99 respectively for Panadol brand products in some chemists. The chain will also take on Codral Cold & Flu Day and Night medication, which has a recommended retail price of $14.35, with their own pack of 24 tablets for $8.99. Australian Medical Association president Dr Steve Hambleton said he supported the call to pull pharmaceuticals from supermarkets. "Paracetamol accidental overdoses are not uncommon and you can buy 100 tablets for hardly any money," Dr Hambleton said. "Paracetamol can cause liver failure. I don't want to tell people something in the kitchen is actually quite lethal, but it is." A spokesman for Coles said pharmaceuticals were an important part of the supermarket's range. "Coles makes no apologies for offering customers a range of great-value, non-prescription medicinal products." Woolworths declined to comment on the issue.
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Prices tumble as chemist chain Discount Drug Stores enters war with supermarkets | Reviews and Recommendations | The Courier-Mail

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