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      $0.71          30,306% 
 
Keflex     250 mg $157.39      $1.88            8,372% 
 
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. (this is true, I
(kimi) went there this past Thursday and asked them.)
 
I am asking each of you to please help me by copying this letter, and pasting
it into your own email, and send it to everyone you know with an email
address. 




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