Prescription Drug Costs

IntenseOperator

DeweyOxburger
Forum Member
Sep 16, 2003
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Chicago
I'm posting an email I received, maybe it will benifit some here...





Subject: This is AMAZING


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 chart below speaks for itself.


BRAND NAME PRICE/100 COST INGREDIENTS PERCENT MARKUP

Celebrex 100 mg $130.27 $0.60 21,712%
Claritin 10 mg $215.17 $0.71 30,306%
Keflex 250 mg $157.39 $1.88 8,372%
Lipitor 20 mg $272.37 $5.80 4,696%
Norvasc 10 mg $188.29 $0.14 134,493%
Paxil 20 mg $220.27 $7.60 2,898%
Prevacid 30 mg $44.77 $1.01 34,136%
Prilosec 20 mg $360.97 $0.52 69,417%
Prozac 20 mg $247.47 $0.11 224,973%
Tenormin 50 mg $104.47 $0.13 80,362%
Vasotec 10 mg $102.37 $020 51,185%
Xanax 1mg $136.79 $0.024 569,958%
Zestril 20 mg $89.89 $3.20 2,809%
Zithromax 600mg $1,48219 $18.78 7,892%
Zocor 40mg $350.27 $8.63 4,059%
Zoloft 50mg $206.87 $1.75 11,821%
*****

Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought everyone I knew 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 Walgreens 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 60pills 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.
 

buddy

Registered User
Forum Member
Nov 21, 2000
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Intense Operator,

Thanks for posting this info.

After reading your post, I typed in www.costco.com, went to the warehouse locator and found a store here in the Pittsburgh area.

I will be buying my prescription drugs there from now on.

I will also pass the word.
 

gardenweasel

el guapo
Forum Member
Jan 10, 2002
40,612
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"the bunker"
great read,i.o.

great read,i.o.

as a guy that takes care of an elderly parent and a very sick brother on top of other family,this is a subject that interests me......

getting ready to start my brother on pro-crit and i understand that it`s very expensive ands you have to have iron-clad documentation for the insurance company to assume any of the cost...

always bought the drug company line about research and development......never realized that the pharmacies were gouging the hell out of people...

costs me plenty,i can tell you....don`t like generics even though the pharmacy fights me tooth and nail regarding my insisting on "brand"....

now i know why....

thanks for posting....
 

dr. freeze

BIG12 KING
Forum Member
Aug 25, 2001
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you don't realize WHY pharmacies are "gouging" people

everyone "co-pays" so there are absolutely no market forces keeping the costs down....

or...the government pays for drugs....so there is no incentive for pharmacies NOT to bilk you....

socialism at work....and yet another way we get screwed over by social security/medicare system......lets all pay in all our lives and get 20% return when we retire....what a great system the liberals want to save
 

VaNurse

Dirty Foot
Forum Member
Mar 13, 2002
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I've seen this myself. My cat has an overactive thyroid and was prescribed the human medication, Tapazol. The price offered by the veterinarian was approximately $60 for 100 tablets. I checked online and asked locally in the pharmacies and was quoted the same price. The generic equivalent was priced at $35-40/100.

I work for a non-profit clinic with a pharmacy and asked the pharmacist what he could do for me. I was shocked when he told me he could get it for me at $18/100!

There are so many people who are given prescriptions by their doctors but are unable to afford having them filled. In most cases, the doctor prescribes the newest (and most expensive) medications because the drug rep has just bought his staff lunch or has supplied him with enough pens, coffee mugs, etc. to get his attention. "Tried and true" older medications available in their generic form are usually substantially less expensive but are overlooked when prescribing.

I'd bet that many of the doctors don't have a clue what a medication costs the patient when prescribed. I believe that consumers need to be educated to ask their doctor how much a prescription will cost them and to ask if there is any other medication that could provide the same benefit for less money. Chances are, there is!
 

djv

Registered User
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Nov 4, 2000
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No surprise. We new Cananda was half the price then here. And of course here in the good old USA where everyone has deep pockets. Lest not forget the transportation and package and handling cost. And even some large outfits need wharehouses to stock there items for a certain region. I dont doubt by the time all that is added up the pharmacies are only half the problem. And dont for get those Doc's that get alittle favor for advertizing or prescriping the right ones. I dont think much goes on there. But since were big boys and girls here we know darn well some does.

Oh yes how many billions did the government put in that new Med-Care plan for the Drug companies. 100 billion to protect there cost. That Sucks.
 
Last edited:

gardenweasel

el guapo
Forum Member
Jan 10, 2002
40,612
255
83
"the bunker"
dr

dr

"you don't realize WHY pharmacies are "gouging" people"...

i was trying to say that i didn`t realize THE EXTENT to which pharmacies gouged people on generics....and why they were so insistent on generics.....

now i know thanks to i.o....
 
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