New construction of a pill dispersing center

 
  Every time I pick up my meds I feel like I'm making a car payment!  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. Independent advocate agencies and watch dog groups sponsored investigations of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply a significant percentage of active ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA and sold in the United States. These active ingredients are made in countries such as India, Mexico, U.K., Japan and soon China. Once delivered to the U.S. pharmaceutical companies the gouge begins. In the independent investigations of how much profit drug companies really make, the actual price of active ingredients used in some of the most popular drugs sold in America are listed below.


Keflex:250 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88

Lipitor:20 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80

Norvasc:10 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $188.29
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.14

Paxil:20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $220.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $7.60

Prevacid:30 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01

Prilosec: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $360.97
Cost of general active ingredients $0.52

Tenormin:50 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13

Vasotec:10 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $102.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20

Xanax:1 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.24

Zestril:20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) $89.89
Cost of general active ingredients $3.20

Zithromax:600 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19
Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78

Zocor:40 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $350.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $8.63

Zoloft:50 mg
Consumer price: $206.87
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.75


These generic drugs were marked up as much as 3,000% or more. So often we solely blame the drug companies for the high cost of drugs, and rightfully so, but in this share the wealth scenario the fault is clearly shared 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! This helps to solve the mystery as to why they can afford to put a Walgreen's on every corner!!! The cost of prescription drugs is and will continue to be outrageous until the deep pocket lobbyist are banned from the back rooms of Washington. Trust me, the government has had these facts for many years!

BUT….until then, the best advice for now is it pays to shop around! Start with your local “Sam’s Club”, “Costco”, “Walmart”, etc. Costco list their prices on line and Walmart gives the info at all their stores. You will find in a number of cases where the generic markup is minimal. The obese profit structure for the pharmaceutical companies is still another issue.

The “Baby Boomers” will soon dominate and quadruple the ranks of the medicated and all concerned are bracing for major profits, new store openings and corporate bonuses………..I think my attitude is showing, where’s my Prozac!

Prozac:20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) : $247.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11