This is very interesting.
The drug companies have been vilified
for over-charging for their medications
and trying to explain that R&D and
the years waiting for FDA approval have
added to the cost of the drugs Now read
this and see where the real costs are
added. Hmmm.
Please
read this, it's very informative.
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. This is based on 100
pills.
BRAND |
STRENGTH |
WE PAY |
COST |
MARK
UP |
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 |
$013 |
80,362% |
Vasotec |
10 mg |
$102.37 |
$0.20 |
51,185% |
Xanax |
1mg |
$136.79 |
$0.024 |
569,958% |
Zestril |
20 mg |
$89.89 |
$3.20 |
2,809% |
Zithromax |
600mg |
$1,482.19 |
$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 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.
Sent to me by one of my clients.
Lloyd
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