Prescription Drug costs
Today, WalMart announced it is starting a new policy in Tampa where
all generic drugs will be sold for $4.00 per prescription.
COSTCO! read this...
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)
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