Friends, did you know this?

[Guest guest]

I got this from another group and had to pass it on. I hope it is OK?

Read...I was astonished...

Akiba 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 man 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 activeingredient in prescription medications? Some people think it must costa 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 foundin drugs approved by the FDA. As we have revealed in past issues ofLife Extension, a significant percentage of drugs sold in the UnitedStates contain active ingredients made in other countries. In ourindependent investigation of how much profit drug companies really make,we obtained the actual price of active ingredients used in someof the most popular drugs sold in America.The data below speaks for itself.Celebrex: 100 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27Cost of general active ingredients: $0.60Percent markup: 21,712%Claritin: 10 mgConsumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71Percent markup: 30,306%Keflex: 250 mgConsumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88Percent markup: 8,372%Lipitor: 20 mgConsumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80Percent markup: 4,696%Norvasc: 10 mgConsumer price (100 tablets): $188.29Cost of general active ingredients: $0.14Percent markup: 134,493%Paxil: 20 mgConsumer price (100 tablets): $220.27Cost of general active ingredients: $7.60Percent markup: 2,898%Prevacid: 30 mgConsumer price (100 tablets): $44.77Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01Percent markup: 34,136%Prilosec: 20 mgConsumer price (100 tablets): $360.97Cost of general active ingredients $0.52Percent markup: 69,417%Prozac: 20 mgConsumer price (100 tablets) : $247.47Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11Percent markup: 224,973%Tenormin: 50 mgConsumer price (100 tablets): $104.47Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13Percent markup: 80,362%Vasotec: 10 mgConsumer price (100 tablets): $102.37Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20Percent markup: 51,185%Xanax: 1 mgConsumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79Cost of general active ingredients: $0.024Percent markup: 569,958%Zestril: 20 mgConsumer price (100 tablets) $89.89Cost of general active ingredients $3.20Percent markup: 2,809Zithromax: 600 mgConsumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78Percent markup: 7,892%Zocor: 40 mgConsumer price (100 tablets): $350.27Cost of general active ingredients: $8.63Percent markup: 4,059%Zoloft: 50 mgConsumer price: $206.87Cost of general active ingredients: $1.75Percent markup: 11,821%Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thoughteveryone 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 theycan 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 foundin his investigation, that some of these generic drugs were marked up asmuch as 3,000% or more. Yes, that's not a typo.....three thousandpercent! So often, we blame the drug companies for the high cost ofdrugs, and usually rightfully so. But in this case, the fault clearlylies 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. Whatthe pharmacist is not telling you is that those 100 generic pills mayhave only cost him $10!At the end of the report, one of the anchors asked Mr. whether ornot there were any pharmacies that did not adhere to this practice,and he said that Costco consistently charged little over their cost forthe generic drugs.I went to the Costco site, where you can look up any drug, and get itsonline price. It says that the in-store prices are consistent with theonline prices. I was appalled. Just to give you one example from my ownexperience, I had to use the drug, Compazine, which helps prevent nauseain chemo patients.I used the generic equivalent, which cost $54.99 for60 pills at CVS. I checked the price at Costco, and I couldhave 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" typestore, 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 doorthat you wish to use the pharmacy, and they will let you in. (this istrue)I went there this past Thursday and asked them. I am asking each of youto please help me by copying this letter, and passing it into yourown e-mail, and send it to everyone you know with an e-mail address.Dick Budworth