Ear ache? No problem -- drug store clinic offers cures for minor ailments

By Ryan Kost, Globe Correspondent

MEDWAY -- Past the snack and makeup aisles, just to the right of the gift-wrap display, the state's first MinuteClinic opened today in a CVS on Main Street.

Nurse practitioners, white coats and all, went about their work treating the ill in two rooms that looked like as if they had been transplanted from doctor's offices.

“See you later, alligator,” one nurse called to a little girl as she left the office in her father’s arms.

The opening of the clinic, the first of 28 planned for this year, follows months of controversy. Similar clinic operate in dozens of other states.

Open nights and weekends, the clinics offer a flashy, digital menu of treatments on a flat-screen monitor for a variety of minor illnesses. For $59, they’ll treat your cold sore. For $10 more, they’ll help you with your case of mononucleosis. And when the flu bug is going around, you can stop by for a $30 vaccine.

Of course, prices vary depending on a person’s insurance plan. And those with more serious conditions will be referred to an emergency room or family physician.

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