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belgareth
08-10-2006, 11:15 AM
I will not

swear that the following is true. However, it is well worth the read.

*******************************



Costco for Drug--did you know this? .



COSTCO



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 Washington ,

DC offices.

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 o Life Extension, a significant percentage of drugs sold in the United States contain active ingredients made

in other countries. In ou r 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

speak for themselves.

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)



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
Room 6839
Office Ph: 202-482-4458
Office Fax:

202-482-5480
E-mail Address:

sdavis@doc.gov

Bruce
08-10-2006, 02:26 PM
Bel,

Thanks for the important

notice. I have to admit, when I see something like this, the first thing I do is go over to snopes.com and look

for the appropriate urban legend. As usual, I was not disappointed.

See:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/generic.asp
for the facts. But today under "status" of the

legend we see "true"! One qualifying note is that the ratio to the cost of the raw ingredients is misleading, but

there is still a critical true story to tell and that is the mark-up from the wholesale price the stores by at....

AND the variation from low to high retail prices in the same town. Check the snopes account for details. Amazing

story.

Thanks Bel!

belgareth
08-10-2006, 03:07 PM
I am well aware that material

costs to produce a product are often the smallest part of the net product costs. In the case of drugs the up-front

costs are incredible and the margin has to reflect recovery of invested capitol.

Also, any retail operation has

to make a profit along the way as well. Otherwise they would be out of business. The part that astounded me was the

huge, massive differential. We, the public, needs to be aware of such things in order to make the market serve us by

only doing busines where we are treated fairly.

Holmes
08-10-2006, 03:15 PM
Thanks for posting this!

Bruce
08-10-2006, 04:08 PM
Yeah, it sort of depends on the

industry. A similar example might be the music industry. Imagine getting an email announcing gouging in this

way:

Jason Mraz CD
reatail cost $19.99
materials cost: $.02

Wow, what a ripoff, eh?

tim929
08-11-2006, 10:00 AM
The funny little spin that the

drug companies put on all this is the cost research and development and the approval process.Add thos things in and

you end up cutting the profit margins by half.Still an absolutly absurd markup for a product that your body doesnt

need.Ask any pediatrician why the refuse to vaccinate thier own children while doling out poisen to the rest of our

children.Its a realy facinating state of affairs...

Bruce
08-11-2006, 10:28 AM
Whether taking the drugs is a good

idea or not is a whole 'nother can of worms. Myself I'd rather spend my money on vitamins herbs and a gym

membership, but that is just me.

B