Got this message from a friend, a little something to think about.

The Real Costs of Prescription Drugs

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.

A search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA has asserted the following:

Brand Name of Drug
Consumer Price 100 Tabs
Cost of ACTIVE Ingredients
Markup by %

Celebrex 100 mg
Consumer Price: $130.27
Active Ing. $ .60
Mark up: 21,712%

Claritin 10 mg
CP: $215.17
Active Ingred. .71
Mark up : 30,306%

Keflex 250 mg
Consumer pays: $157.39
Active Ingred: $1.88
Mark Up: 8,372%

Lipitor 20 mg
Consumer pays: $272.37
Active Ingred. 5.80
Mark up: 4,696%

Norvasc 10 mg
Consumer pays: $188.29
Active Ingred. .14
Mark up: 134,493%

Paxil 20 mg
Consumer Pays: $220.27
Active Ingred. 7.60
Mark Up 2,898%

Prevacid 30 mg
Consumer Pays: $44.77
Active Ingred. 1.01
Mark Up 34,136%

Prozac 20mg
Consumer Pays $247.47
Active Ingred. .11
Mark Up 224,973%

Tenormin 50 mg
Consumer Pays: $104.47
Active Ingred. $.13
Mark Up 80,362%

Vasotec 10 mg
Consumer Pays $102.37
Active Ingred. .20
Mark Up 51,185%

Xanax 1 mg
Consumer pays: $136.79
Active Ingred. $.024
Mark Up 569,958%

Zestril 20 mg
Consumer Pays: $89.89
Active Ingred. $3.20
Mark Up 2,809%

Zithromax 600mg
Consumer Pays: $1,482.19
Active Ingredient $18.78
Mark Up 7,892%

Zocor 40mg
Consumer pays $350.27
Active Ingred. $8.63
Mark Up 4,059%

Zoloft 50 mg
Consumer pays: $206.87
Active Ingred. $1.75
Mark up 11,821%


An investigative reporter for Channel 7 News in Detroit did a story on generic drug price gouging by pharmacies. (Steve Wilson)
He found in his investigation, that some of these generic drugs were marked up as much as 3,000% or more.

Pharmacies are often the culprits.
If you had to buy a prescription drug, and bought the name brand,
you might pay $100 for 100 pills.
The pharmacist may tell you that if you get the generic equivalent,
they would cost only $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.

The reporter was asked whether or not there were any pharmacies that did not adhere to this practice, and he said that Costco consistently charged very little over their cost for generic drugs.

On the Costco website, 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.

For example:
The drug Compazine, which helps prevent nausea in chemo patients.

At Costco, 100 pills cost $19.89.

Although Costco is a "Membership" type store, you do NOT have to
be a member to buy prescriptions there, as medication is a federally regulated substance.

You tell them at the door that you wish to use the pharmacy, and they will let you in, the reporter has stated.


USA Today has stated that many of the active ingredients used by U.S.
drug companies are purchased from Canadian companies, which makes attempts to label Canadian prescription medicines as "unsafe"
seem pretty ridiculous.

Just more fleecing of the American people.

Sorry for the length.


Sarge43 "00" Tique 2.0L I4 ATX "98" Mustang 3.8L V6 AT The reason there's so much ignorance is that those who have it are so eager to share it.