[Loch-Ruadh] Fw: Costco

[Alaric and Fiona]

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----- Original Message -----
From: Joyce Phillips
To: Bert Galloway ; Boles, Pam and George ; Charlton, Earline K - Norman, OK ; Coston, Sara ; Frueh, Sue Goetz ; Goodson, Freeda M - Norman, OK ; Matuschka, Heinz ; Milbee, Susan ; Newell, Mary ; Ramos, Sue ; Robertson, Lorraine ; Snow, Lee ; Steely, Carolyn ; Ted/Claire Gatewood ; Trumbo, Terri ; Von Hudson ; Warner, David & Cathy
Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2003 2:25 PM
Subject: Costco



     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.    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 very 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, a friend had to
use the drug, Compazine, which helps prevent nausea in chemo patients.
She used the generic equivalent, which cost $54.99 for 60 pills at CVS.
I checked the price at Costco, and she could have bought 100 pills for
$19.89.

      For 145 of her pain pills, she paid $72.57.  She 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 they are federally regulated substances.  You just tell them at the
door that you wish to use the pharmacy, and they will let you in.

   I am asking each of you to please help me by copying this letter,
and pasting it into your own e-mail, and send it to everyone you know
with an e-mail address. This practice is almost sinful, and just maybe,
working together, we can do something about this.



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