[Dialogue] Cost of drugs at CostCo

[George Holcombe]

Thought this might benefit some of us.

>>
>>
>> I thought you might like to have this information.
>>
>> Costco
>>
>>
>> - Read to End!
>>
>> Wal*Mart announced it is starting a new policy in Tampa where all  
>> generic drugs will be sold for $4.00 per prescription.
>>
>> COSTCO! read this...
>>
>> 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 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 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: 1 0 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 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: /B 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 at doc.gov

George Holcombe
14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
Austin, TX 78728
Home: 512/252-2756
Mobile 512/294-5952
geowanda at earthlink.net


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