ArnieA Loc: BC,Canada

I just got this e-mail so I pass it on.

Arnie


FrSubject: Save a fortune on prescription at costco - true story - in both canada & usa


Bravo Costco & Steve Wilson, Detroit Ch7



Take the time to read all the way down.


Verified -snopes.com: Generic Drugs <http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/generic.asp> Hope there's one near you


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 inprescription 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: 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. 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)



This is true in Canada too. I went there this past Thursday and asked them.



I am asking each of you to please help me by copying this letter, and

passing it into your own e-mail, and send it to everyone you know with

an e-mail address.



Sharon L. Davis

Budget Analyst

U.S. Department of Commerce









IN GODWE TRUST

THANK A SOLDIER

lachmap Loc: Sydney Australia

Getting very sick of these 'I got an email so I'm passing it on' crap posts. Did you check the veracity of the info in it?

Thistletop Loc: East Tennessee

I can't account for Costco but I was in the pharmaceutical industry for years and the fact that pharmacists make the markup larger on generic drugs is true. It has been going on for years.

charlie Loc: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Did you bother to read the post?

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

This USED to be true, and continues to be true in many chain drug stores. Although I have mixed feelings about Walmart, they broke this trend when they introduced their $4 drug list. Many of the medications mentioned above can be purchased for $4 for a 30-day supply.

Part of the problem is the industry's use of the "AWP" - average wholesale price. No one knows where this comes from, and many retail prices are based on this. One pharmacist friend many years ago after Zantac became generic showed me that he could order generic ranitidine 300mg (Zantac) from different suppliers for prices ranging from $2.57 to $75 for 30 pills. The AWP at that time was $85. So regardless of where he ordered his ranitidine, he could sell it at a price based on an AWP of $85!

What is not mentioned here is that the pharmaceutical industry gives insurance companies big "rebates" if they choose their drug as the "preferred". So you may find that yuor Nexium is a much higher copayment (a higher "tier" ) than your insurance company's preferred Protonix. Both may appear to cost the same, but your insurance company may be getting an $80 "rebate" every time you pick up your prescription. Elsewhere it would be called a kickback, but somehow they get away with this. The result, though, is that it keeps the real price artificially elevated for everyone, especially those without insurance. Obviously this is a pet peeve of mine. Those without insurance pay anywhere from 3 to 10 times the price for all services in healthcare. I was affiliated with one hospital in Florida where they charged $335 for an EKG. Most insurances pay about $35 for an EKG, Medicare pays $25 or so. Yet if you have no insurance, and are not bankrupt already, you get billed the big price. An MRI was $3,000, but down the street at an imaging center I could get you an MRI for $425. And there is no transparency - no one can be an informed consumer of healthcare because of this.

Thistletop Loc: East Tennessee

Thanks for the update SB

papayanirvana Loc: Kauai

snopes says true, although the raw active ingredient pricing is misleading and inflammatory.

The link has an extra ">" at the end

http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/generic.asp

rayford2 Loc: New Bethlehem, PA

I'd be willing to bet most of that money is held in escrow to pay expensive lawyers and lawsuits.

rayford2 Loc: New Bethlehem, PA

If they annoy you why bother reading the posts in the general chit-chat section?

papayanirvana Loc: Kauai

maybe a little goes in research?!? ...or else it would already be a home remedy in the country where they get the active ingredient.

papayanirvana Loc: Kauai

I know what you mean...this looks like trolling (specially with a broken link), but this one actually has useful information to save big money for anyone purchasing prescription drugs...

Go to Costco...

ArnieA Loc: BC,Canada

If you remove the > as is suggested it works.

Arnie

lachmap Loc: Sydney Australia

Maybe because just once in a while they may contain something of substance. Plus the headings - they should say "Another email I got passed on about how bad the world is and perhaps I should go and cut my wrists".

pigpen

I won't argue the fact that pharmaceutical companies are making lots of $$$$$. The bottom line, however, is not the cost of the ingredients. The amount of money dumped into research, development and testing is astronomical. Let's not forget insurance. You think doctors pay a lot of malpractice insurance, just think what kind of coverage these companies must maintain.

I am not defending them. My job takes me into many medical offices, sometimes the same office 2 or 3 times a week. I cannot tell you how many drug reps I see going in and out of these places. I'm only in a few minutes at a time, so I can only imagine the amount of reps I don't see!! When you are considering the cost of your pills, let's not forget the fact that all of these reps make good money, some VERY good. Did I forget to mention all of them are very attractive, slender young women?!?! Maybe that's just a coincidence. The answer to every problem is in a pill, or two.

Many years ago I delivered for a pharmacy. I asked once why they were charging $4 for 1 tylenol. The answer, "We have to make up for the ones that pay nothing." Sound familiar????