[su_highlight background=”#f2ec2e” color=”#e40f0b”]Are you being ripped off by prescription overpricing?[/su_highlight]
In my ongoing efforts to assist and provide seniors with useful information, I recently discovered a major price exploitation relating to prescriptions. You may be paying far too much for your prescribed medications. Are you aware as to how much drug companies markup the drug products they sell to you as prescriptions?
Read the article below to learn how much the markups can be for many drugs that you may be using. Also learn, that you can save a lot of money by purchasing your prescriptions at Costco, where you DO NOT HAVE TO BE A MEMBER to purchase prescriptions.
Are you paying too much for your prescriptions ?
Have you ever wondered how much it costs a drug company for the active ingredient in prescription medications? Some people think it costs a lot, since many drugs sell for more than $2.00 per tablet. A study of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA in the USA revealed a significant percentage of drugs sold in the United States contain active ingredients made in other countries. Further investigation revealed how much profit drug companies really make and the real price markups made by pharmaceutical companies in America. A little added study reveals Canada’s markups are very similar and in line with those in the USA.
The data below speaks for itself.
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 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.
The original author of this material went to a 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. The writer was appalled. Just to give you one example from their own experience, they use the drug, Compazine, which helps prevent nausea in chemo patients.
The generic equivalent cost $54.99 for 60 pills at a USA pharmacy chain store. The price at Costco for 100 pills, $19.89. For 145 of the writer’s pain pills, she paid $72.57. Costco charged $28.08 for 150 pills.
Although Costco is a ‘membership’ type store, you do NOT have to be a member to buy prescriptions there in the USA, 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)
This is true in Canada, too. I phoned and received confirmation that non-members can obtain prescriptions from COSTCO.
I hope this article helps you in saving some money and improving your access to medication which you may be using. Additionally, I have included access to a COSTCO pricing list for medications which they prescribe. See below.
Click HERE to view a directory of COSTCO prices for prescription drugs
Richard
