Medication Costs Article - Amazing! Go To Costco!

[leadmeastray88]

I got this in an email and was left speechless!

If you buy lots of meds and pay through the roof, you may want to read this!!

P.S. The lady who did this is a Budget Analyst, I did not do this

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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.

[sbj]

Costco also has great prices on vitamins.

I want to point out that the cost of name brand prescription drugs is not controlled by the cost of the ingredients themselves; the cost is controlled by the manufacturer's need to recoup their research and development expenses while showing a profit (which they owe to their shareholders). If the pharma companies could not recoup their R&D expenses then there would be no incentive for them to develop new drugs. (Not that I'm defending the pharma companies and some of their practices - don't get me wrong ... )

For instance, when they finally do come out with a drug that helps us to digest gluten safely, you can bet that it's gonna cost a heckuva lot more than just the expense of the ingredients themselves. They've been formulating and testing these drugs for years and that costs a pretty penny - they have the right to recoup those expenses and make a profit.

[leadmeastray88]

Costco also has great prices on vitamins.

I want to point out that the cost of name brand prescription drugs is not controlled by the cost of the ingredients themselves; the cost is controlled by the manufacturer's need to recoup their research and development expenses while showing a profit (which they owe to their shareholders). If the pharma companies could not recoup their R&D expenses then there would be no incentive for them to develop new drugs. (Not that I'm defending the pharma companies and some of their practices - don't get me wrong ... )

For instance, when they finally do come out with a drug that helps us to digest gluten safely, you can bet that it's gonna cost a heckuva lot more than just the expense of the ingredients themselves. They've been formulating and testing these drugs for years and that costs a pretty penny - they have the right to recoup those expenses and make a profit.

Even though Costco can offer these low prices, there is obviously even still a percentage of that which is 'profit' for the companies. I just find that the present percentages of profits are astounding, and incredibly high. You can't deny that. That is simply robbing us blind.

[Jestgar]

I want to point out that the cost of name brand prescription drugs is not controlled by the cost of the ingredients themselves; the cost is controlled by the manufacturer's need to recoup their research and development expenses while showing a profit (which they owe to their shareholders). If the pharma companies could not recoup their R&D expenses then there would be no incentive for them to develop new drugs. (Not that I'm defending the pharma companies and some of their practices - don't get me wrong ... )

For instance, when they finally do come out with a drug that helps us to digest gluten safely, you can bet that it's gonna cost a heckuva lot more than just the expense of the ingredients themselves. They've been formulating and testing these drugs for years and that costs a pretty penny - they have the right to recoup those expenses and make a profit.

I'd like to second this. Only 1 out of 100 drugs researched makes it to market. You are paying for all 100. If you have a way to make this better, I'm sure the drug companies would like to know.