The following is incredible. Make sure to keep reading to the
bottom where it discusses Costco, Sam's Club, etc.
The women who wrote this email and signed below are Federal
Budget Analysts in Washington, DC.
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 State 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 chart 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 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%
Norvasec 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): $10237 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 I know 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, Sam's Club and other
discount volume stores consistently charged little over their cost
for the generic drugs.
I went to the discount store's website, 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,
Comparing, 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
another discount store for $28.08. I would like to mention, that
although these are 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 email, and send it to everyone you
know with an e-mail address.
Sharon L. Davis, Budget Analyst, US Department of Commerce
Room 6839 Office Ph: 202-482-4458; Office Fax: 202-482-5480
Email Address: sdavis@docgov
Mary Palmer, Budget Analyst, Bureau of Economic Analysis Office
of Budget &Finance; Voice: (202) 606-9295