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: 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): $13679
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 tab lets): $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. Thi! s 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 onto your own e-mail list, 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
