Walgreens Offers Medication Preparedness Advice with Hurricane Sandy on Path for East Coast

PRESS RELEASE

DEERFIELD, Ill., Oct. 27, 2012 — As officials across the East Coast closely monitor the approach of Hurricane Sandy, Walgreens and Duane Reade drugstores are offering the following tips for assuring prescription needs are met for those potentially impacted by the storm.

1. In the event of evacuation, get to a safe location first and refill your medication at the nearest pharmacy. This allows you to avoid potentially long lines at your local pharmacy, and you won’t needlessly delay your evacuation. Walgreens has more than 7,900 locations nationwide and all locations can access your patient record, making any Walgreens your neighborhood Walgreens. Patients can find the nearest store by calling 1-800-WALGREENS, going to Walgreens.com or downloading the Walgreens application for your mobile device. Duane Reade, part of the Walgreens family of companies, has more than 250 locations in the New York metropolitan area.

2. Take a waterproof bag with your current medication - even if the bottle is empty. The information on the prescription label will help the pharmacist refill your medicine once you arrive at your destination. Heat, humidity and sunlight can degrade the effectiveness of medicine, so try to protect it from extreme weather conditions.

3. Keep a written record of your current prescriptions in your valuable papers file. If you’re taking several prescription drugs, it’s an especially good idea to keep a record of your current dosage and doctor’s contact information. Walgreens patients can register online at Walgreens.com and print out this information directly from their patient profile.

Smartphone users can register for Walgreens mobile applications to conveniently order prescription refills while on the go and easily locate the nearest Walgreens pharmacy. Customers with smartphones also can utilize Walgreens prescription refill-by-scan feature by scanning the bar code on their pill bottle with their phones. Customers can send the prescription refill to their nearest pharmacy and receive a text message alert when it’s ready to pick up. For registration or more information on Walgreens mobile applications, visit www.walgreens.com/gomobile.

Walgreens also is a member of ICERx.org (In Case of Emergency Prescriptions), a secure prescription information network available to pharmacists and doctors during a national emergency. As a member, Walgreens pharmacists can fill prescriptions and access information for hurricane-affected patients even if the patient normally uses another pharmacy.

Walgreens also collaborates with Rx Response (www.rxresponse.org), an initiative of the biopharmaceutical supply system, to help ensure patient access to medications following a natural disaster. The relationship centers around the Rx Response Pharmacy Status Reporting Tool (PSRT) and enhancements made to the tool as a result of the Rx Response-Walgreens relationship. The PSRT is an online program that allows emergency managers and the public to readily locate open pharmacies in communities that have been impacted by severe weather or other events.