The Pill Rip-off The following information and statements were received by Me via email: 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 ... Celebrex:100 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27 Cost of general active ingredients: $0.60 Percent markup: 21,712% Claritin:10 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 Consumer price (100 tablets): $188.29 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: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. 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 prices gouging by pharmacies. He found in his
investigation that some of these generic drugs were marked up as much as 3,000%
or more. 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. 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. |
|
|
|
Since The Twenty-nith day of the First month anno Domini Two thousand nine Your visit counts as number Thank you! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |