Perscription Costs | Drug Company or Pharmacy Fault?

Prescription drug costs, are we to blame the drug company or the pharmacy for the costs?

So often we jump to blame the soaring cost of our prescription medicines on the drug company. We don't usually take into consideration the mark-up in which the pharmacy adds.

I am a person with many allergies. Ranging from everyday pollens, dust, dander to the more serious of food allergies (which allergy pills don't help). I reach for my Zyrtec each morning to help with the sneezing and so on. Well, truth of the matter is, it probably only costs about a nickel a pill or less. And believe me, I am grateful that Walmart now carries it over-the-counter, 30 count, for about $22.00. I use to pay roughly $90 a month for the same stuff before it became available over-the-counter.

Anyways, I ran across the chart below totally by accident, while searching for old history and stories, and as you see that is in it's tag line, "old story." And I found it quite interesting, although Zyrtec isn't on the list, I see Claritin, which is pretty close. So it got my attention.

See any that you take? If so, can you believe the price listed?

The following information is found here: http://www.breathittonline.com/oldstory/archives17.html And it says that they did a search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply ingredients to the drugs approved here in the U.S. by the FDA. And had posted these results in an issue of LIFE EXTENSION.
This is based on 100 pills.
BRAND STRENGTH WE PAY STORE COST MARK UP
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%

Please note: I have also posted this article, in an edited form on Bubblews.com found here:
http://www.bubblews.com/news/710034-perscription-drug-costs-whose-to-blame