Re: you DO NOT Need a COSTCO membership to buy RX drugs there

On Wednesday, January 23, 2013, Dbstover5432@aol.com <Dbstover5432@aol.com> wrote:
> Story verified @http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/generic.asp
> Costco - A MUST READ
> Make sure you read to the end. You will be amazed.
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.1&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Let's hear it for Costco! (This is just mind-boggling!)
> Make sure you read all the way past the list of the drugs. The woman that signed
> below is a Budget Analyst out of federal Washington , DC offices.
> Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the active ingredient in prescription medications? Some people think it must cost a lot, since many drugs sell for more than $2.00 per tablet. We did a search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA. As we have revealed in past issues of Life Extension a significant percentage of drugs sold in the United States contain active ingredients made in other countries. In our independent investigation of how much profit drug companies really make, we obtained the actual price of active ingredients used in some of the most popular drugs sold in America .
> Celebrex:100 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27
> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.60
> Percent markup: 21,712%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.2&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Claritin:10 mg
> Consumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17
> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71
> Percent markup: 30,306%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.3&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Keflex:250 mg
> Consumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39
> Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88
> Percent markup: 8,372%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.4&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Lipitor:20 mg
> Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37
> Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80
> Percent markup: 4,696%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.5&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Norvasc:10 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets): $188.29
> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.14
> Percent markup: 134,493%
> Paxil:20 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets): $220.27
> Cost of general active ingredients: $7.60
> Percent markup: 2,898%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.6&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Prevacid:30 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77
> Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01
> Percent markup: 34,136%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.7&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Prilosec: 20 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets): $360.97
> Cost of general active ingredients $0.52
> Percent markup: 69,417%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.8&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Prozac:20 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets) : $247.47
> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11
> Percent markup: 224,973%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.9&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Tenormin:50 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47
> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13
> Percent markup: 80,362%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.10&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>.
> Vasotec:10 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets): $102.37
> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20
> Percent markup: 51,185%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.11&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Xanax:1 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79
> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.024
> Percent markup: 569,958%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.12&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Zestril:20 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets) $89.89
> Cost of general active ingredients $3.20
> Percent markup: 2,809%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.13&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Zithromax:600 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19
> Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78
> Percent markup: 7,892%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.14&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Zocor:40 mg
> Consumer price (100 tablets): $350.27
> Cost of general active ingredients: $8.63
> Percent markup: 4,059%
> Zoloft:50 mg
> Consumer price: $206.87
> Cost of general active ingredients: $1.75
> Percent markup: 11,821%
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.15&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought everyone should know about this.
> 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 prices gouging by pharmacies. He found in his investigation that some of these generic drugs were marked up as much as 3,000% or more. 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.
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.16&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> I went to the 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. 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.
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.17&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>
> 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.
> I am asking each of you to please help me by copying this letter, and passing it into your own e-mail, and send it to everyone you know with an e-mail address.
> Sharon L. Davis
> Budget Analyst
> U.S. Department of Commerce
> Room 6839
> Office Ph: 202-482-4458
> Office Fax: 202-482-5480
> E-mail Address:sdavis@doc.gov
> </mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13c6a0449769fa27&attid=0.0.18&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1>

Celebrating Martin Luther King Day

Some people may have different ideas about Dr. King, and to be perfectly honest I know little about him except some history I have absorbed over the years and his famous "I had a Dream" speech, but in my opinion Martin Luther King day should be something that people of all colours can celebrate.

People can celebrate how are creator made us, He made us in His own image. People of all different colours and ethnic backgrounds can celebrate that they are created in the image of God.

People can celebrate equality. All people are created equal. no one person is better than another person, we all are on level ground. We are different from another but not better, we are all the offspring of our heavenly Father.

People can celebrate diversity, we are all different. Can you imagine how things would be if we were all the same. No we are not the same; the human race is made up of diverse people of all colours, shapes and sizes.

In addition to celebrating these things I believe that Martin Luther King's day should be about unity. People in America need to come together. We need to realize that we are all in this thing together so why not try to get along and help one another.

As we celebrate Martin Luther King's day, let us remember that the human race (there is just one race, the human race) is created in the image of God; that we are all created equal; that diversity is not a bad thing; and we should focus on unity on this day, not divisiveness.

Everybody have a happy Martin Luther King's day.

Did Third Qtr Roughing the Passer take the Wind from Beneath Atlanta Falcon's Wings in Super Bowl Bid

Could roughing the passer call be the death knell in Falcons Super Bowl bid. As the Falcons fell today I cannot help bug wonder if the roughing the passer penalty against the Falcon's defends might have been the turning point in the contest. The penalty late in the third quarter was a result of what appeared to be a failed attempt to block a pass that instead turned into the defender hitting the quarterback's face mask instead. Was this the call that thawarted the Falcon's momentum and ended their stellar season one game away from the Super Bowl? We will never know for sure, but I do believe two teams gave it their all today and the one that was able to capitalize on the others mistakes or the twists of fate was the San Francisco 49's. 

Goodbye Maggie Harper

Buried a dear friend today, Sister Maggie Harper. She was more than a friend, she was family, not in the blood sense but in the relational and spiritual sense. Maggie was a good soul and touched my life in a special way as she did to other people in her life. Maggie's passing reminds me of the brevity of life, the short amount of years allotted to us here on earth.

 Maggie lived to be eighty and would have been eighty-one this spring if she had lived, as I am near the half century mark I realize that eighty years is not a long time. May God teach me how to use what time I have left wisely. I fear that I have wasted many a year during my pilgrimage here on earth, may I make good use of the time i have left. If for some reason you have stumbled on this post I encourage you to seek the Lord Jesus Christ and surrender your life to Him if you have not done that already. If you are a believer, know this, that your life is just a vapor that appears for a little while and vanishes away, with that in mind ask God to teach you how to use your time wisely.

Just got a weather alert from Weather Channel.com. The alert said that North Georgia was under a flood watch till Wednesday. Morning. Looks like North Georgia can expect a lot of rain over the next few days. Being upon a hill I don't. Concern myself much with floods but I would be careful around rivers, creeks and low lying areas. I still rmrber the flood of 1990 that almost took Copperhill off the map. So fellow North Georgiana beware the rising waters for we appear to be in for a few wet days.