Lets hear it for Costco

[Guest guest]

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 < BR>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 , 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. 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 et send it to everyone you know with an e-mail address.

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