Generic Drug Cost

“This is from 3 years ago, but I am sure that many of the issues still apply. I know where my prescriptions are going to be filled from now on. BTW this was also "Snopes" checked and TRUE.

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Monday night (July 22), 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!

Mr. Wilson did a thorough research, and checked out all the major drugstore chains, discount chains, independent pharmacies, and even checked on some Canadian pharmacies. 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. They gave the link to Costco, which I will include here, so that you can go and check prices for yourself. www.costco.com Costco Online pharmacy

I went to the Costco site, where you can look up any drug, and get it's 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 60 pills 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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Finally, a link to some background data from the website of the TV station whose reporter uncovered this stuff.

http://web.wxyz.com/extras/040205-drugchart.html”

“Terrori$m?”

“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.- DDX

Now that is good info.
Thanks for posting this.”

“Too bad the closest one to me is just outside of NYC.”

“Chain pharmacies like CVS or Rite Aid are a rip off for generic antibiotics in my area. I go to an independent pharmacy that sells them for a fraction of what I would pay at a chain store.”

“I wish they had done a SAMS Club also.
Usually around my area, you either have a Sams or Costco, not both.”

“SS ,Sams and Costco go head to head in most places , I'd think their prices wouldn't wander too far from those of costco.”

“You must have larger towns around.”