Is Your Drugstore Price Gouging?5.051

Where Do You Buy Medicine?

I never thought much about where I got my prescriptions filled, where I bought Sudafed, or where I picked up medication for colds and allergies. Most of the time it was because I was sick and didn’t really care about the price.

I recently ran out my heartburn medication last month. It was the generic store brand for Gaviscon. I had previously paid between $6-$8 at Walgreen’s for the medicine.

Out of convenience I stopped by CVS and found their generic brand “On Sale” for $8.99. The regular price was over $10 which got me questioning what was going on.

Being as price sensitive as I am, I said, “Forget this…” and I walked across the parking lot to Walmart where I found the exact same medication for $4!

I Paid 2x as Much!

I was pretty irritated since I do not like getting ripped off. I checked prices on some other items and the price gouging appeared to be true for a majority of non-prescription medications including store brand Sudafed. Walgreen’s and CVS charge about $10 for a 96 count of store brand Sudafed. Walmart only charges $6.

What About Prescriptions?

This display of price gouging from these drugstore chains got me curious about how their pharmacies were doing business. If CVS and Walgreen’s were charging double for medication they sold in the store then how were they handling the pharmacy business?

What I found out was just disturbing.

The fact that anyone shops at these places is just mind-boggling.

Here is the price comparison for a 30 day supply of a sample drug using the UNA RX generic discount card. A 30 day supply of this medication costs these companies about $1.

30X Markups! Cha-Ching

Walgreen’s and CVS are charging at least 30x their cost for generic drugs even with a discount card! I guess the New York Times author was correct when he wrote the article, If Crack Dealers Took Lessons from Walgreen’s They Really Would Be Rich.

At least crack dealers don’t run around touting themselves as, “The Pharmacy America Trusts.” You at least know what you are getting from a crack dealer.

The $4 Drug List

If the rage hasn’t taken over yet then continue reading… This particular drug is on the $4 list at Target and Walmart!

So, which pharmacies are not price gouging you? Try local grocery chains, Target, Walmart, Costco, and Sam’s Club. You’ll be amazed that some of your drugs cost even less than the co-pay through your insurance carrier.

The Grandma Scama!

If you have a $10 or $15 co-pay and your medication is on a $4 generic drug list like the one above, then the savings are huge. Even with health insurance you may be paying 200% or 300% more than you should be!

The person that gets hurt the most from these price gouging practices is your grandma and the other people on Medicare Part D plans. People need to stop worrying about imaginary “Death Panels” in the current health care bill and start worrying about the nasty drug stores taking all of your grandmother’s social security money.

Health Care Reform Needed

It’s pretty obvious that we need health care reform in this country when, “The Pharmacy America Trusts” is the same pharmacy that is swindling old ladies and inflating medication costs.

The current health care policy in our country involves major corporations, health insurance companies, and drug stores bribing government officials into favorable policies for themselves.

The people that are sick and need help can’t get insurance and drug stores are clearly price gouging you. The health care business is great when you only have to insure healthy people and are able to sell drugs at an insane markup!

Congress just voted down a law allowing us to import drugs from other countries where they cost less and are made just as well. Read the Debate Over Importing Drugs.

I guess it is ok for Walgreen’s and CVS to get their drugs from India, then sell them to you for 30x what they paid for them. Yet, we can’t even have our drugs shipped here from a reputable pharmacy in Canada! This is outrageous!

I guess free trade and capitalism are just something nice to think about when it is convenient for Corporate America. We are all getting screwed and the people representing us refuse to do anything about it.