[GCFL-discuss] prescription drug costs

Mon Feb 2 08:35:28 CST 2004

Joseph M, I don't know much about perscription drugs, but at my second
night job there is a place next door (don't know the name of it) that says
it gets its drugs from Canada and gives a great discount on its
prescriptions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yolanda Cruz
Accounts Payable
Invensys Building Systems, Inc.
1354 Clifford Ave
Loves Park, IL 61111
Phone: 815 637 3124    Fax: 815 637 5321
E-mail: yolanda.cruz at invensys.com
URL:  http://home.earthlink.net/~vanidosa27
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: If you have received this e-mail in error, please
immediately notify the sender by e-mail at the address shown.  This e-mail
transmission may contain confidential information.  This information is
intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity to whom it is
intended even if addressed incorrectly.  Please delete it from your files
if you are not the intended recipient.  Thank you for your compliance.

                    gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net                                                                                  
                    Sent by:                                            To:     Yolanda <yolanda.cruz at invensys.com>        
                    gcfl-discuss-bounces_yolanda.cruz=invensys.co       cc:     "Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies     
                    m at gcfl.net                                           List" <gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net>                     
                                                                        Subject:     [GCFL-discuss] prescription drug      
                                                                         costs                                             
                    02/01/2004 08:19 PM                                                                                    

Didn't someone have a place that will check out this kind of story?  If so,
would you send it to me, or, check out this story?  Thanks
My cousin sent this to me and I would like to check it out.  Some of my
family spends a lot of their $$$ on prescriptions.
Thanks Frank

P.S. the columns don't line up properly, but, the price we pay, the
pharmacy cost and markup.

---- Original Message ----- From: Joseph M

IT'S ALL ABOUT MONEY!!!!

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 chart below speaks for itself.

BRAND NAME OF DRUG CONSUMER PRICE 100 TABS
COST OF GENERAL ACTIVE INGREDIENTS PERCENT MARKUP
Celebrex 100 mg $130.27 $0.60 21,712%
Claritin 10 mg $215.17 $0.7 1 30,306%
Keflex 250 mg $157.39 $1.88 8,372%
Lipitor 20 mg $2 72.37 $5.80 4,696%
Norvasc 10 mg $188.29 $0.14 34,493%
Paxil 20 mg $220.27 $7.60 2,898%
Prevacid 30 mg $44.77 $1.01 34,136%
Prilosec 20 mg $360.97 $0.52 69,417%
Prozac 20 mg $247.47 $0.11 224,973%
Tenormin 50 mg $104.47 $0.13 80,362%
Vasotec 10 mg $102.37 $0.20 51,185%
Xanax 1mg $136.79 $0.024 569,958%
Zestril 20 mg $89.89 $3.20 2,809%
Zithromax 600mg $1,482.19 $18.78 7,892%
Zocor 40mg $350.27 $8.63 4,059%
Zoloft 50mg $206.87 $1.75 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 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 c onsistent 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.

I am asking each of you to please help me by copying this letter, and
pasting it into your own e-mail, and send it to everyone you know with an
e-mail address.

Check out the new MSN 9 Dial-up ? fast & reliable Internet access with
prime features! _______________________________________________
GCFL-discuss mailing list
GCFL-discuss at gcfl.net
http://gcfl.net/mailman/listinfo/gcfl-discuss