Fwd: Fw: DRUG PRICES

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- Ann Quasman Tuesday, October 26, 2004 8:35 AM Lisa Hogan Fw: DRUG PRICES I actually called the number below, and Sharon Davis is really at this number......hope she doesn't get another zillion people calling her, and hope she keeps her job! - Ross Bishop Frequent Tuesday, October 26, 2004 7:53 AM DRUG PRICES Pretty Sad >>>>"DRUGS">>The women who wrote this email and signed below areFederal Budget>Analysts in Washington, D.C.>>Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug companyfor the active>ingredient in prescription medications? Some peoplethink it must cost a>lot, since many drugs sell for more than $2.00 pertablet. We did a search>of>offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the activeingredients 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 State containactive ingredients>made in other countries In our independentinvestigation of how much>profit drug companies really make, we obtained theactual price of active>ingredients used in some of the most popular drugssold 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 mg>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 t! ablets) : $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 sooutrageous, I thought everyone I>knew should know about this. Please read thefollowing and pass it on. It>pays>to shop around. This helps to solve the mystery asto why they can afford>to>put a Walgreen's on every corner.>>On Monday night, Steve Wilson, an investigativereporter for Channel 7>News in Detroit, did a story on generic drug pricegouging by pharmacies.>He found in his investigation, that some of thesegeneric 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 forthe high cost of>drugs, and>usually rightfully so. But in this case, the faultclearly lies with the>pharmacies themselves. For example, if you had to buya prescription drug,>and bought>the name brand, you might pay $100 for 100 pills.>>>The pharmacist might tell you that if you get thegeneric equivalent,>they would only cost $80, making you think you are"saving" $20. What>the pharmacist is not telling you is that those 100generic pills may>have only cost him $10!>>At the end of the report, one of the anchors askedMr. Wilson whether or>not there were any pharmacies that did not adhere tothis practice, and>he said that Costco, Sam's Club and other discountvolume stores>consistently>charged little over their cost for the generic drugs.I went to the>discount>store's website, where you can look up any drug, andget its online price.>It says that the in-store prices are consistent withthe online prices. I>was appalled.>>Just to give you one example from my own experience,I had to use the drug,>Comparing, which helps prevent nausea in chemopatients. 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 atanother discount store for>$28.08.>I would like to mention that although these are a"membership" type store,>you do NOT have to be a member to buy prescriptionsthere, as it is a>federally>regulated substance. You just tell them at the doorthat you wish to use>the>pharmacy, and they will let you in. (This is true, Iwent there this past>Thursday and asked them.)>>I am asking each of you to please help me by copyingthis letter, and>passing it into your own email, and send it toeveryone 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:>>Mary Palmer>Budget Analyst>Bureau of Economic Analysis>Office of Budget & Finance>Voice: (202) 606-9295>Fax: (202) 606-5324>