[Vision2020] Something else to talk about.............

[JSullivan]

  This is rather long, but please.... read it!

  Snopes said it is true. 


  Subject: Pharmacology Names

  PLEASE READ 

  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 co>> dget Analysts out of ntain 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. 

  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 m g Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37 Cost of general 
  active ingredients: $5.80 Percent markup: 4,696% 

  Norvasec 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%< BR> 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 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 pri ce 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 email, and send it to everyone you know with an 
  email address. 

  Sharon L. Davis Budget Analyst U.S. Department of Commerce Room 6839 
  Office Ph: 202-482-4458 Office Fax: 202-482-5480 Email Address 
  sdavis at docgov 

  Mary Palmer Budget Analyst Bureau of Economic Analysis Office of Budget 
  &Finance Voice: (202) 606-9295 Fax: (202) 606-5324 

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

  Thoughts, anyone????



  Janesta Carcich 


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