Nobody seems to be missing an opportunity to go after the growing market of diabetes patients these days.

Giant Eagle this week announced plans to begin offering free supplies of the five most commonly prescribed type 2 diabetes medications to customers, in addition to free screenings and advice targeted to position the O'Hara grocer as the place to go for those with the disease.

Meanwhile, drug manufacturers have been taking out full page ads in newspapers for weeks and promoting their services following the questions raised by federal regulators about one of the more popular diabetes drugs, GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia.

According to the National Institutes of Health, 23.6 million people -- 7.8 percent of the U.S. population -- have diabetes, which is the seventh-leading cause of death.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control data show the percentage of people diagnosed with diabetes has steadily increased between 1980 and 2007, with the largest increases among people 65 and older.

Medical costs for treating diabetes are estimated to be $116 billion.

Starting today Giant Eagle is offering the prescription tablets glimepiride, glipizide, glyburide, metformin and chlorpropamide, which for the past four years have been available under the supermarket retailer's $4 prescription program.

Offering them at no cost is "another way to bring value to our customers," said Randy Heiser, vice president of pharmacy operations. Customers need to present a prescription and their Giant Eagle Advantage card to get the medications.

Mr. Heiser said the program was an extension of the grocer's program launched in September that offers free antibiotics, which has resulted in more than 975,000 prescriptions filled at no cost so far.

Giant Eagle and competitor Meijer have been providing free diabetic medication in their Columbus, Ohio, stores since April, though Meijer offers only Metformin.

The Giant Eagle program also is active in Toledo, Ohio.

Mr. Heiser said the grocer had targeted diabetes because its complications can lead to other chronic conditions, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease and nerve damage.

The five medications stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin, as well as help the body produce insulin more effectively.

They are not generally prescribed for insulin-dependent diabetics who cannot produce insulin on their own.

Giant Eagle also plans to offer free introductory nutrition classes at 29 regional stores in coming weeks.

People may register online at www.GiantEagle.com/nutrition-diabetes or by calling 1-877-289-2588.

Diabetes treatments have been prominent in the news of late. In the past two weeks, manufacturers of Januvia and ACTOS tablets for type 2 diabetes, and Lantus insulin injections have been running full-page ads for their products.

The marketing push comes as concerns have been raised about another drug.

Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered GlaxoSmithKline to stop enrolling new patients in a clinical trial comparing type 2 diabetes treatments including Avandia.

The week prior, an FDA advisory committee voted to keep Avandia on the market even as it agreed that the drug appeared to increase the risk of heart problems.

The committee said there was not enough evidence that Avandia increased the risk of a patient dying to ban it.

GlaxoSmithKline responded by saying it would suspend enrollment in the study (patients already enrolled can continue) and reiterated that the company believed that Avandia was an important treatment option.

The American Diabetes Association, the Endocrine Society and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists also have urged diabetic patients taking Avandia not to stop, saying the abrupt change would pose a greater health risk.

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