OTC medications at wholesale prices

Diabetes is an awful disease.

Left untreated, it can even result in death. And the products needed to manage it are so expensive - and so important. Yet a lot of insurance won't cover Type 2 diabetes, or they consider it a pre-existing condition.

The uninsured and underinsured have to pay for supplies out of their own pockets, and sometimes they simply can't afford to buy what they need to manage their diabetes and to pay other bills at the same time.

But there's another option in Coeur d'Alene -Over the Counter, where consumers can buy diabetes management supplies for up to half the cost they pay at drugstores.

"The cost is so outrageous in the stores," said Eric Burkholder, who owns the business with wife Sabra Burkholder.

"Things are all priced based on people having insurance."

Over the Counter is a wholesale business with a main focus on diabetic supplies, though it also carries a variety of non prescription drugs such as Zyrtec, Claritin and Prilosec at prices about 30 percent lower than other retail stores. The storefront is located at 4055 N. Government Way.

Burkholder charges his customers wholesale prices - sometimes even less if the item is set to expire within a few months or has become less popular - something that happens frequently with beauty products.

The Burkholders do the bulk of their business online, where they have a strong presence as a featured store on amazon.com. The Web site is theotcstore.com.

"Our main presence is really Web based," Burkholder said.

Burkholder used to be in the wholesale prescription business, starting it up six years ago after being in the restaurant business.

The Burkholders moved to the area about two years ago and started their wholesale over the counter business. They decided to open a storefront about a year ago when they got their great location on Government Way.

Burkholder plans to soon offer more sugar-free items for diabetics (and some items with sugar), as well as Italian Ices.

The store's main focus on helping diabetics will continue. It's a disease Burkholder, whose mother and mother-in-law are both diabetic, takes seriously. Diabetics need affordable supplies - even more than people need the other kinds of products he carries.

"No one's ever died because they didn't have the right hair product," he said.

For more information, stop by the store at 4055 N. Government Way (across from the Kootenai County Fairgrounds) or call (208) 546-5671.