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<DIV><STRONG><EM>This is rather long, but please.... read
it!</EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM>Snopes said it is true. </EM></STRONG></DIV>
<P>
<P><BR>Subject: Pharmacology Names</P>
<P><STRONG>PLEASE READ </STRONG></P>
<P>Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the active
<BR>ingredient in prescription medications? Some people think it must cost a
<BR>lot, since many drugs sell for more than $2.00 per tablet. We did a
<BR>search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active
<BR>ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA. As we have revealed in
<BR>past issues of Life Extension, a significant percentage of drugs sold in
<BR>the United States co>> dget Analysts out of ntain active ingredients
<BR>made in other countries. In our independent investigation of how much
<BR>profit drug companies really make, we obtained the actual price of
<BR>active ingredients used in some of the most popular drugs sold in
<BR>America.
<P><BR>The chart below speaks for itself.
<P>Celebrex 100 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27 Cost of general
<BR>active ingredients: $0.60 Percent markup: 21,712%
<P>Claritin 10 mg Consumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17 Cost of general
<BR>active ingredients: $0.71 Percent markup: 30,306%
<P>Keflex 250 mg Consumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39 Cost of general
<BR>active ingredients: $1.88 Percent markup: 8,372%
<P>Lipitor 20 m g Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37 Cost of general
<BR>active ingredients: $5.80 Percent markup: 4,696%
<P>Norvasec 10 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $188.29 Cost of general
<BR>active ingredients: $0.14 Percent markup: 134,493%
<P>Paxil 20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $220.27 Cost of general active
<BR>ingredients: $7.60 Percent markup: 2,898%
<P>Prevacid 30 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77 Cost of general
<BR>active ingredients: $1.01 Percent markup: 34,136%
<P>Prilosec 20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $360.97 Cost of general
<BR>active ingredients $0.52 Percent markup: 69,417%
<P><BR>Prozac 20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets) : $247.47 Cost of general
<BR>active ingredients: $0.11 Percent markup: 224,973%
<P>Tenormin 50 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47 Cost of general
<BR>active ingredients: $0.13 Percent markup: 80,362%
<P>Vasotec 10 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $102.37 Cost of general
<BR>active ingredients: $0.20 Percent markup: 51,185%
<P>Xanax 1 mg Consumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79 Cost of general active
<BR>ingredients: $0.024 Percent markup: 569,958%
<P>Zestril 20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets) $89.89 Cost of general active
<BR>ingredients $3.20 Percent markup: 2,809%< BR> Zithromax 600 mg
Consumer <BR>price (100 tablets): $1,482.19 Cost of general active ingredients
<BR>$18.78 Percent markup: 7,892%
<P>Zocor 40 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $350.27 Cost of general active
<BR>ingredients: $8.63 Percent markup: 4,059%
<P>Zoloft 50 mg Consumer price: $206.87 Cost of general active ingredients
<BR>$1.75 Percent markup: 11,821%
<P>Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought
<BR>everyone I knew should know about this. Please read the following and
<BR>pass it on. It pays to shop around. This helps to solve the mystery as
<BR>to why they can afford to put a Walgreens on every corner.
<P>On Monday night, Steve Wilson, an investigative reporter for Channel <BR>7
News in Detroit, did a story on generic drug pri ce gouging by <BR>pharmacies.
He found in his investigation, that some of these generic <BR>drugs were
marked up as much as 3,000% or more. Yes, that's not a <BR>typo.....three
thousand percent! So often, we blame the drug companies <BR>for the high cost
of drugs, and usually rightfully so. But in this case, <BR>the fault clearly
lies with the pharmacies themselves. For example, if <BR>you had to buy a
prescription drug, and bought the name brand, you might <BR>pay $100 for 100
pills. The pharmacist might tell you that if you get <BR>the generic
equivalent, they would only cost $80, making you think you <BR>are "saving"
$20. What the pharmacist is not telling you is that those <BR>100 generic
pills may have only cost him $10!
<P>At the end of the report, one of the anchors asked Mr. Wilson whether or
<BR>not there were any pharmacies that did not adhere to this practice, and
<BR>he said that Costco consistently charged little over their cost for the
<BR>generic drugs. I went to the Costco site, where you can look up any
<BR>drug, and get its online price. It says that the in-store prices are
<BR>consistent with the online prices. I was appalled.
<P>Just to give you one example from my own experience, I had to use the
<BR>drug, Compazine, which helps prevent nausea in chemo patients. I used
<BR>the generic equivalent, which cost $54.99 for 60 pills at CVS. I checked
<BR>the price at Costco, and I could have bought 100 pills for $19.89. For
<BR>145 of my pain pills, I paid $72.57. I could have got 150 at Costco for
<BR>$28.08. I would like to mention, that although Costco is a "membership"
<BR>type store, you do NOT have to be a member to buy prescriptions there,
<BR>as it is a federally regulated substance. You just tell them at the door
<BR>that you wish to use the pharmacy, and they will let you in. (this is
<BR>true, I went there this past Thursday and asked them.)
<P>I am asking each of you to please help me by copying this letter, and
<BR>passing it into your own email, and send it to everyone you know with an
<BR>email address.
<P>Sharon L. Davis Budget Analyst U.S. Department of Commerce Room 6839
<BR>Office Ph: 202-482-4458 Office Fax: 202-482-5480 Email Address
<BR>sdavis@docgov
<P>Mary Palmer Budget Analyst Bureau of Economic Analysis Office of Budget
<BR>&Finance Voice: (202) 606-9295 Fax: (202)
606-5324</></I></FONT></FONT></FONT></B></I></FONT></FONT></FONT></A> </P>
<P>***********************************</P>
<P>Thoughts, anyone????</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Janesta Carcich </P>
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