Wegmans recently announced that it would offer free generic antibiotics to customers with prescriptions, following in the footsteps of other supermarket chains such as Giant and Stop & Shop. While this is a positive measure for families otherwise unable to afford antibiotics, the time and money spent on this program could be better spent preventing disease in the first place.

In the current economic climate, this generous plan will certainly benefit families struggling to meet the rising costs of prescription drugs. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, some families are forgoing prescriptions in an effort to curb spending. In October up to 27 percent of prescriptions went unfilled in an attempt to save money. Free antibiotics are a helpful measure that will ensure that the entire community has access to medicine when they need it.

Despite its benefits, however, Wegmans’ offer must be accepted cautiously. Patients, aware that they are able to get the drugs for free, are more likely to pressure doctors to prescribe antibiotics, even when they are not an effective cure.

Over-prescribing can lead to antibiotic resistance in people who take them and to the development of bacterial strains that are antibiotic resistant. College students eager to get well quickly are some of the likeliest candidates to pressure their doctor for a prescription, even when their ailment can not be cured by an antibiotic.

Additionally, while marketed as a program for “cold and flu season,” antibiotics are not effective in curing either the cold or the flu viruses. Instead, flu vaccines must be made more widely available to prevent these viruses from spreading to begin with.

While consumer spending is down, Wegmans must be eager to drive customers to its stores, and offering free antibiotics can be beneficial for both the store financially and the community’s health. However, the chain would be doing a much better public service if it instead helped to increase access to flu vaccines and other preventative measures.

While the Tompkins County Health Department offers public flu shot clinics, a single flu shot runs up to $35, a cost unlikely to be taken on by the community members most likely to benefit from free antibiotics. The time and money spent by Wegmans on their free-antibiotic program would be better spent working with the Health Department to reduce or eliminate the cost of such flu vaccines.

Wegmans should look to the model of Cornell, which has taken a step further by offering free flu vaccines to staff and students.

To expand this positive offering, the University would be well advised to work with community programs and businesses such as Wegmans to make flu shots available to the greater Ithaca community in the future, rather than only the privileged members who are affiliated with Cornell. Only then will the community truly be able to improve its health and be able to cope with the rising cost of health care during Ithaca’s frigid cold and flu season.