Study:CVS, Rite Aid, and Other Chain Pharmacies Sell Generics at Up to 18 Times Cost, Think Progres:

[Stuart G]

It is an incredible study ..and a great chart to go with it...

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http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/29/1798061/chain-pharmacies-generic-drugs/

By Sy Mukherjee on Mar 29, 2013 at 5:50 pm

According to a new Consumer Reports investigative study published Thursday, there is rampant variation in the price of generic drugs as large U.S. pharmacy chains — including CVS, Rite Aid, and Target — mark up the prices of generic drug versions for common medications by as much as 18 times what wholesale chains like Costco charge. That price variance ends up costing Americans, who spend an average of $758 out-of-pocket on drugs every year, hundreds of dollars in unnecessary spending each month.

Consumer Reports compiled the data by contacting hundred of pharmacies throughout the country and asking what their drug prices were for generic versions of Lipitor, Plavix, Actos, and other common medications. The results were striking, with pharmacy representatives claiming that the higher prices were necessary for covering overhead, and considering that selling medication constitutes most of their revenue and profit margins:

......Costco was the least expensive overall, and you don’t need to be a member to use its pharmacy. A few independent pharmacies came in even cheaper, though their prices varied widely, as did grocery-store pharmacies. The online retailers Healthwarehouse.com and FamilyMeds.com also had very low prices. On the other end of the spectrum, CVS, Rite Aid, and Target had the highest retail prices. [...]

A representative of CVS told us that its retail drug prices reflect other services offered by the chain, including drive-through windows, automated prescription refill systems, free outreach programs to help make sure patients are taking their prescriptions correctly, and 24-hour pharmacies. Costco pharmacies, the cheapest overall, are open only from 10 a.m. to 7 or 8:30 p.m. and are typically closed on Sundays.

“Big-box stores such as Costco and Walmart use the pharmacy as a traffic builder for their stores, whereas traditional chain stores, such as CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens, make the majority of their revenue and profits from the pharmacy,” says Stephen W. Schondelmeyer, Ph.D., Pharm.D., a professor of pharmacy economics at the University of Minnesota.

[s-cubed]

1. It's not just prescription drugs.

I use generic Zyrtec an allergy med. I can buy a year's supply for less than $20. At a chain drugstore I'd get a few months supply for that.

[djean111]

2. I have posted about the ridiculous mark-ups elsewhere -

venlafaxine 270 caps $97 at Costco, $1014 at CVS.
lamotrigine 90 caps $28 at Costco, $248 at CVS, $398 at Publix.
All the extra crap they use to justify the horrendous mark-ups?
If you are uninsured, you just need the damn medicine.

[Stuart G]

3. What you have posted above is hard to believe.

One retailer charges ten times what another does......ten times..


but the truth is born out...that is exactlly the same as the chart in the article...

obscene...

[djean111]

4. All one has to do is call the various pharmacies and ask the price

for the drug, for the generic if there is one, tell them how many - and then utter the magic phrase - no insurance.
I literally started crying with relief the first time I picked up my son's meds at Costco - we had been struggling for a long time, buying 5 pills at a time (there is a surcharge for that, ya know) and scouring the net for overseas stuff.

[jsr]

5. This is a must read

[Brigid]

6. Everyone, check out those 2 online pharmacies . . .

Last edited Sat Mar 30, 2013, 09:46 PM - Edit history (1)

Mentioned in the article! I was at my wits' end about what to do about my ridiculously expensive plavix prescription. It went generic last year, but even that is awfully.costly. These sites have it much, much cheaper. Thank you, Stuart G!

These online pharmacies are accredited by National Association of Boards of Pharmacies. http://www.nabp.com

[quadrature]

7. what is the real problem here?

some of what people do is hard to believe.
the real problem is???

no mailing address
no internet hookup
no debit card

.................................
a little OT but.
I would break a double-for-me-dose
tablet in half, to save 5 cents.
For reasons unknown,
some people would rather die

[Stuart G]

9. The real problem here is simple.: greed:

Everyone knows in our system, a fair and decent profit is ok. Charging 12 times what another seller charges, as CVS does is not ok.
Why? Some go there because it is closest..and that is what they do...So..CVS knows that a certain amount of people will be there for that reason, and it charges the most..for what it can get away with..... for what it sells at the pharmacy.. the most because of a captive audience..just like the gas stations..the most...not the middle, not the below the middle..but the most..gouge the captive audience..for the most

[TexasBushwhacker]

8. FYI, you don't have to have a Costco card

to purchase from their pharmacy.