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        New Message Board Archives >> Jan-Mar 2004 >> Prescription Drug Mark-ups %3000
        
(Message started by: athos12 on Jan 13^th, 2004, 1:38am)

Title: Prescription Drug Mark-ups %3000
Post by athos12 on Jan 13^th, 2004, 1:38am

A car company can move its factories to Mexico and claim it's a free market.

A toy company can outsource to a Chinese subcontractor and claim it's a free market.

A major bank can incorporate in Bermuda to avoid taxes and claim it's a free market.

We can buy HP Printers made in Mexico. We can buy shirts made in Bangladesh.

We can purchase almost anything we want from many different countries BUT, heaven help the elderly who dare to buy their prescription drugs from a Canadian (Or Mexico) pharmacy. That's called UN-American!

And you think the pharmaceutical companies don't have a powerful lobby? Think again!

(Please forward this to every person you know over age 50)

Prescription drug prices

INTERESTING
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

FOR: SELLS: COST: PERCENT MARKUP
Celebrex 100 mg $130.27 $0.60 21,712%
Claritin 10 mg $215.17 $0.71 30,306%
Keflex 250 mg $157.39 $1.88 83,372%
Lipitor 20 mg $272.37 $5.80 4,696%
Norvasc 10 mg $188.29 $0.14 134,493%
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 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 60pills 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.

Title: Re: Prescription Drug Mark-ups %3000
Post by BlueMeanie on Jan 13^th, 2004, 1:46am

Thanks Athos. Very informative post.

Fricken Rip-offs.

Title: Re: Prescription Drug Mark-ups %3000
Post by floridian on Jan 13^th, 2004, 9:03am

At first glance, this looks like one of those irritating internet hoaxes that get passed from fool to fool. A markup of 83,000%? Somebody must be making that shit up. But unfortunately, Athos' post is not fiction.

The table with percentages is from Life Extension Magazine - a fairly decent source of information on health in general, and supplements in particular. The amazing figures include all markups - manufacturer, distributer, and retailer. http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2002/apr2002_awsi_01.html

The story by Detroit's WXYZ reporter Steve Wilson is no longer online, but was confirmed by two hoax busting websites - snopes and truthorfiction. Similiar stories have been done by other TV stations. Suspiciously, none I searched for are still available online, but these stories are about 2 years old.
http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/generic.asp
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/generics.htm

Costco does have competitive prices, but may not beat their rivals by as much as the article implies. Here's a quick comparison of two scripts that are relevant to this site:

Imitrex Nasal Spray 5mg 6 units (no generic available)
Walgreens $160
Eckerds $153
Costco $136

Lithium Carbonate 600 mg (generic)
Eckerds $0.43 / tablet
Costco $0.44 / tablet
Walgreens $0.48 / tablet

Seems to me that the local pharmacy does take a good markup (and yes, the pharmacy profit is what is putting a those stores on every corner). But the outrageous markups go to the patent medicine companies where they have a monopoly.

Title: Re: Prescription Drug Mark-ups %3000
Post by BruceD on Jan 13^th, 2004, 11:10am

Hey Athos,

I agree completely that drug prices are way too expensive, but I also wanted to add just a bit more information to your numbers. The actual raw chemical costs are really insignificant compared to the development costs for the drug.

I have a couple of friends who are involved in fledgling pharmaceutical companies and the costs necessary to secure FDA approval can be staggering. Not even considering the research costs to invent the med, the costs to take a new drug through Phase 1, 2, and 3 clinical trials to obtain FDA approval can range from 300-500 million dollars. Of course, the pharm companies want to recoup that investment (as well as make a profit) so they hyper-charge the consumer. I certainly don't work for or support this industry, but just wanted to give a little different perspective for the numbers you showed.

Either way, the end result is that we pay way too much for meds!

Take care
BruceD

Title: Re: Prescription Drug Mark-ups %3000
Post by KingOfPain on Jan 13^th, 2004, 4:30pm

*Disclaimer: I in no way endorse Wal-Mart by sharing this.
It is just a recent happening for me.
Just fact.*

I recently had to fill a script (generic).

At all chain drug stores I checked,
my script was from $43- $48 .
Cost was more at non-chain shops.
Generic version on all accounts.

I filled it at Wal-Mart for $28.

At least a $15 savings for the
same drug (generic).

Shop around people.

Title: Re: Prescription Drug Mark-ups %3000
Post by athos12 on Jan 13^th, 2004, 7:59pm

government cotrols damn near everything... where is our "free-market" system....300-500 million... damn that is per drug...

And they wonder why there are seniors eating dogfood
... they have to pay for their meds.

Title: Re: Prescription Drug Mark-ups %3000
Post by Prense on Jan 13^th, 2004, 8:16pm

on 01/13/04 at 11:10:19, BruceD wrote:

Not even considering the research costs to invent the med, the costs to take a new drug through Phase 1, 2, and 3 clinical trials to obtain FDA approval can range from 300-500 million dollars

Alot of that money is not out of pocket expense from drug manufacturers. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Alot of cash, no doubt...my guess-many shady things going on within these companies.

I also feel that insurance companies have a large influence on pharmacy pricing. If we could all afford are meds, why the hell would we carry insurance for prescriptions? If this is true, it is probably why markups are so high in the US... Our healthcare system in general truly sucks!

Just thinking...don't shoot me.

Chris

Title: Re: Prescription Drug Mark-ups %3000
Post by athos12 on Jan 13^th, 2004, 8:17pm

In general it is all $$$ rarely have I seen anyone from the administration side truly care about people.... even some doc and nurses

Title: Re: Prescription Drug Mark-ups %3000
Post by Prense on Jan 13^th, 2004, 8:26pm

I am not sure what you are refering to Athos...

I just meant that alot of research funding comes from the government, donations, etc... I claim no proof to that, just the way I understand "the system". I could be wrong though.

Still thinking...

Chris