For Children and Elderly at More Than 4,000 Locations
Bentonville, Ark., Oct. 9, 2009 – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) announced today that more than 4,000 Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies nationwide will address the national shortage of Tamiflu® oral suspension by converting the capsule to liquid form. The FDA-approved process, known as compounding, will ensure Americans have greater access to the well known antiviral drug often prescribed when individuals contract influenza. The liquid form is commonly taken by children, the elderly and those with difficulty swallowing the capsule form.
Due to limited inventories and commercial supplies of Tamiflu® oral suspension, the FDA approved the directions pharmacists use to compound the liquid medication from Tamiflu® capsules. This provides an alternative when the commercially manufactured oral suspension formulation is not readily available.
“We want to assure families and their physicians that our team of pharmacists stands ready to meet the needs of our patients young and old,” said Dr. John Agwunobi, president of Walmart’s health and wellness division. “We have the medication available, and we have pharmacists skilled in compounding oral suspensions.”
Tamiflu® is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat and prevent influenza. Tamiflu® (oseltamivir phosphate) is one of two FDA-approved influenza antiviral drugs that is recommended by CDC for use against the seasonal influenza virus and the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. The liquid form is usually given to children and adults who cannot swallow a capsule.
Comprehensive information from FDA is available at http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/InformationbyDrugClass/ucm100228.htm.
About Walmart
Every week, millions of customers visit Walmart stores, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam’s Club locations across America or log on to its online store at www.walmart.com. The company and its Foundation are committed to a philosophy of giving back locally. Walmart is proud to support the causes that are important to customers and associates right in their own neighborhoods, and last year gave more than $378 million to local communities in the United States.
# # #
