Liberty Medical Supply, Inc. ("Liberty Medical") is a home delivery service that sells diabetes testing supplies, prescription drug

Prescription drug

A prescription medication is a licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a medical prescription before it can be obtained. The term is used to distinguish it from over-the-counter drugs which can be obtained without a prescription...

s, CPAP and ostomy supplies directly to consumers. The company is a subsidiary of Medco Health Solutions, Inc.

Medco Health Solutions

Medco Health Solutions, Inc is a health care company currently serving the needs of more than 65 million people. Medco provides pharmacy services for private and public employers, health plans, labor unions, government agencies, and individuals served by Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans...

, which purchased Liberty Medical and its parent company, PolyMedica, in 2007. Liberty Medical's corporate headquarters is located in Port St. Lucie, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. The company is one of the city's largest employers.

Liberty Medical Services

Liberty Medical provides services to more than one million patients through home delivery of their diabetes testing supplies, prescription medications, and other healthcare products that they need to manage their diabetes and related conditions. Since Liberty Medical offers free shipping, a free meter, and files insurance claims on the patient’s behalf, in many cases the service results in no charge to the patient.

Liberty Medical has been expanding its product lines, offering a number of medical services and supplies in addition to diabetes testing supplies, such as prescription drugs, a personal emergency response system, sleep apnea equipment including CPAP masks, and ostomy and incontinence diabetes testing supplies.

Advertising

Liberty Medical television commercials air frequently during the CBS TV Show The Price is Right and other daytime TV programs in the United States. They have featured veteran character actor Wilford Brimley

Wilford Brimley

Allen Wilford Brimley is an American actor. He has appeared in such films as The China Syndrome, Cocoon, The Thing and The Firm. He had a recurring role on the 1970s television series The Waltons...

, who has been the spokesman since 1999 (and a diabetic since 1979). He is famously known for telling diabetics to "check their blood sugar, and check it often". Other celebrity diabetics who have done at least one commercial for the company include Nell Carter

Nell Carter

Nell Carter was an American singer, and film, stage, and television actress. She won a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin, as well as an Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television...

, Phylicia Rashad

Phylicia Rashad

Phylicia Rashād is an American Tony Award winning actress and singer, best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show....

  and Delta Burke

Delta Burke

Delta Ramona Leah Burke is an American television and film actress. Her television work includes a leading role as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom Designing Women...

.

Liberty Medical in Popular Culture

Liberty Medical TV commercials have been parodied on Family Guy

Family Guy

Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...

and Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

. Since those parodies, YouTube users have created "mash-ups" of Liberty TV commercials featuring Wilford Brimley, garnering hundreds of thousands of views and creating an internet meme

Internet meme

The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.-Description:...

. Internet users have also posted pictures captioned "Diabeetus" in reference to Brimley's pronunciation of diabetes.

American Diabetes Association

Liberty Medical is a major contributor and National Strategic Partner of the American Diabetes Association

American Diabetes Association

The American Diabetes Association is a United States-based association working to fight the consequences of diabetes, and to help those affected by diabetes...

(ADA), supporting the organization and its mission, "to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes."

The company and the ADA collaborate in providing educational information to patients, including a campaign and series of articles called "I decide” that are published in Liberty’s Health Matters magazine.

On December 19, 2008, Liberty Medical spokesman Wilford Brimley was recognized by the ADA for his advocacy efforts on behalf of diabetes awareness and education. The actor received the ADA's "Lifetime of Service" award during a ceremony at Liberty Medical headquarters in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Awards

Liberty Medical's former parent company, PolyMedica, was ranked sixth in the Boston Globe’s “Globe 100” (Best of Massachusetts’ Business) in May 2006. [14]

Regulatory Affairs and Compliance

In 2001-2003 Polymedica Corp. and its subsidiary Liberty Medical Supply agreed to pay $35 million to resolve allegations that they submitted improper claims to Medicare for various diabetic and nebulizer products. Claims were allegedly submitted without a required doctor's order or prescription, and the companies failed to obtain and maintain documentation verifying the necessity of the level of treatment rendered. Under terms of the settlement, Polymedica agreed to comply with a corporate integrity agreement negotiated by HHS/OIG. Liberty Medical has since had an untarnished record of adherence to Medicare regulations and voluntarily provides extensive training and education to its entire workforce.