Adler (No wonder every other spam email I get is for allopathic medications! Also,
the other than cosmically downloaded margins and names are beyond what this little
ol' mind can comprehend)...Of course, my opinion is to stay away from these substances
as much as possible. It may cost a lot to bring these things to market (I don't
really know), but at least we can see why the drug companies and distributors
have so much money! I love the Xanax markup!
_________________________________________________________
Let's hear it for Costco!! (This is just mind-boggling!) Make sure you read
all the way past the list of the drugs. The woman that signed below is a Budget
Analyst out of federal Washington, DC offices.
Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the active ingredient
in prescription medications? Some people think it must cost a lot, since many
drugs sell for more than $2.00 per tablet. We did a search of offshore chemical
synthesizers that supply the active ingredients found in drugs approved by the
FDA. As we have revealed in past issues of Life Extension, a significant percentage
of drugs sold in the United States contain active ingredients made in other
countries. In our independent investigation of how much profit drug companies
really make, we obtained the actual price of active ingredients used in some
of the most popular drugs sold in America.
The data below speaks for itself:
Celebrex: 100 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $ 0.60 Percent markup: 21,712%
Claritin: 1 0 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71 Percent markup: 30,306%
Keflex: 250 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88 Percent markup: 8,372%
Lipitor: 20 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80 Percent markup: 4,696%
Norvasc: 10 mg Cost of general active ingredients: $0.14 Percent markup: 134,493%
Paxil: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $220.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $7.60 Percent markup: 2,898%
Prevacid: 30 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01 Percent markup: 34,136%
Prilosec: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $360.97
Cost of general active ingredients $0.52 Percent markup: 69,417%
Prozac: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) : $247.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11 Percent markup: 224,973%
Tenormin: 50 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13 Percent markup: 80,362%
Vasotec: 10 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $102.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20 Percent markup: 51,185%
Xanax: 1 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.024 Percent markup: 569,958%
Zestril: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) $89.89
Cost of general active ingredients $3.20 Percent markup: 2,809
Zithromax: 600 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19
Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78
Percent markup: 7,892%
Zocor:/B 40 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $350.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $8.63
Percent markup: 4,059%
Zoloft: 50 mg
Consumer price: $206.87
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.75
Percent markup: 11,821%
Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought everyone should
know about this. Please read the following and pass it on. It pays to shop around.
This helps to solve the mystery as to why they can afford to put a Walgreen's
on every corner. On Monday night, Steve Wilson, an investigative reporter for
Channel 7 News in Detroit, did a story on generic drug price gouging by pharmacies.
He found in his investigation, that some of these generic drugs were marked
up as much as 3,000% or more. Yes, that's not a typo.....three thousand percent!
So often, we blame the drug companies for the high cost of drugs, and usually
rightfully so. But in this case, the fault clearly lies with the pharmacies
themselves. For example, if you had to buy a prescription drug, and bought the
name brand, you might pay $100 for 100 pills. The pharmacist might tell you
that if you get the generic equivalent, they would only cost $80, making you
think you are "saving" $20. What the pharmacist is not telling you
is that those 100 generic pills may have only cost him $10!
At the end of the report, one of the anchors asked Mr. Wilson whether or not
there were any pharmacies that did not adhere to this practice, and he said
that Costco consistently charged little over their cost for the generic drugs.
I went to the Costco site, where you can look up any drug, and get its online
price. It says that the in-store prices are consistent with the online prices.
I was appalled. Just to give you one example from my own experience, I had to
use the drug, Compazine, which helps prevent nausea in chemo patients.
I used the generic equivalent, which cost $54.99 for 60 pills at CVS. I checked
the price at Costco, and I could have bought 100 pills for $19.89. For 145 of
my pain pills, I paid $72.57. I could have got 150 at Costco for $28.08.
I would like to mention, that although Costco is a "membership" type
store, you do NOT have to be a member to buy prescriptions there, as it is a
federally regulated substance. You just tell them at the door that you wish
to use the pharmacy, and they will let you in. (this is true)
I went there this past Thursday and asked them. I am asking each of you to please
help me by copying this letter, and passing it into your own e-mail, and send
it to everyone you know with an e-mail address.
Sharon L. Davis
Budget Analyst
U.S . Department of Commerce
Room 6839
Office Ph: 202-482-4458
Office Fax: 202-482-5480
E-mail Address: sdavis@doc.gov
posted
by Sacred Steve at
1/19/2006 12:15:00 AM
