The WalMart World

[Scott P]

What's the difference between people not shopping at Wal-Mart because they don't like their labor practices and people not buying products from France because they didn't invade Iraq with us?

We all have various reason for how we spend our money.

 

[CalgaryDetail]

The all powerful and super-wealthy pharmaceutical companies have developed drugs that keep members of my family alive, and someday probably me as well...they probably already have for that matter in the development of vaccines and antibiotics.
If any industry deserves to profit enough in order to sustain the brightest minds and facilities, it is the drug companies. Doctors make a lot of money as well, and some of them are jerks and quacks, but the one that saved my daughter's life when she quit breathing deserves his own private island in my mind. The one that saved my Dad when he had a heart attack should not go home worrying about his finances. I want them to be thinking about the newest techniques and procedures, not how they are going to pay for the kid's college.

I totaly agree i know that im on insuline and it keeps me alive. Im willing to pay 70 bucks a vile (in a nation with healtch are) if it measn that those companies can devople better drugss Maybe one day i wont need insuling but untill then ill pay what i have to

 

[Maxima Lover]

I totaly agree i know that im on insuline and it keeps me alive. Im willing to pay 70 bucks a vile (in a nation with healtch are) if it measn that those companies can devople better drugss Maybe one day i wont need insuling but untill then ill pay what i have to

I hate to say it, but the drug companies aren't looking to find cures. Once a person is cured, they don't have to buy drugs anymore. Which means no more money for the pharmaceutical companies.

 

[Padron]

A great discussion-

I got the e-mail about 6 months ago and was taken back with it's supposed findings...






You won't believe this article ...



The following is incredible. Make sure to keep reading to the bottom where

it discusses Costco, Sam's Club, etc. The women who wrote this email and

signed it below are Federal Budget Analysts in Washington, DC.



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 State 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.



The chart below speaks for itself.



Celebrex 100 mg

Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27

Cost of general active ingredients: $0.60

Percent markup: 21,712%



Claritin 10 mg

Consumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17

Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71

Percent markup: 30,306%



Keflex 250 mg

Consumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39

Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88

Percent markup: 8,372%



Lipitor 20 mg

Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37

Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80

Percent markup: 4,696%



Norvasec 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%



Prevacid 30 mg

Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77

Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01

Percent markup: 34,136%



Prilosec 20 mg

Consumer price (100 tablets): $360.97

Cost of general active ingredients $0.52

Percent markup: 69,417%



Prozac 20 mg

Consumer price (100 tablets) : $247.47

Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11

Percent markup: 224,973%



Tenormin 50 mg

Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47

Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13

Percent markup: 80,362%



Vasotec 10 mg

Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20

Percent markup: 51,185%



Xanax 1 mg

Consumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79

Cost of general active ingredients: $0.024

Percent markup: 569,958%



Zestril 20 mg

Consumer price (100 tablets) $89.89

Cost of general active ingredients $3.20

Percent markup: 2,809%



Zithromax 600 mg

Consumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19

Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78

Percent markup: 7,892%



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%



Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought everyone I

knew should know about this. Please read the following and pass it on. 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 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.

Yes, that's not a typo... three thousand percent! 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 those100 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, Sam's Club and other discount volume stores consistently

charged little over their cost for the generic drugs. I went to the

discount store's website, 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 which helps prevent nausea in chemo patients. Comparing, 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 another

discount store for $28.08. I would like to mention, that although these are

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 on in your own email, and send it to everyone you know with an email

address.



Sharon L. Davis, Budget Analyst, US Department of

Commerce Room 6839 Office Ph: 202-482-4458; Office

Fax: 202-482-5480 Email Address:

sdavis@docgov



Mary Palmer, Budget Analyst, Bureau of Economic

Analysis Office of Budget &Finance; Voice: (202)

606-9295

 

[crobinso]

I waver between the two extremes provided by the poll, so therefore I didn't vote. While I like low prices, convenience, etc. that Wal-Mart provides, I hate the long lines, unsafe aisles that are not accessible, and the crowded parking lots.

Charles

 

[Scott P]

That one has been around for a long time. SNopes says it is true, but also adds the following note:

This chart has little relevance (other than an inflammatory one), as far more goes into the retail pricing of drugs than the raw cost of their active ingredients. Pharmaceutical companies expend money on the research and development costs of creating the drugs, plus the overhead costs of manufacturing, marketing, and shipping them; as well, pharmacies must sell drugs for more than their wholesale prices in order to cover the overhead costs of store operations (including pharmacists' salaries).

The cost to manufacture the active ingredient is only one small component to the overall price you pay. Drug prices are too high, that much is true. But chains emails like that only stir up trouble without really telling the whole story.

 

[Padron]

That one has been around for a long time. SNopes says it is true, but also adds the following note:

This chart has little relevance (other than an inflammatory one), as far more goes into the retail pricing of drugs than the raw cost of their active ingredients. Pharmaceutical companies expend money on the research and development costs of creating the drugs, plus the overhead costs of manufacturing, marketing, and shipping them; as well, pharmacies must sell drugs for more than their wholesale prices in order to cover the overhead costs of store operations (including pharmacists' salaries).

The cost to manufacture the active ingredient is only one small component to the overall price you pay. Drug prices are too high, that much is true. But chains emails like that only stir up trouble without really telling the whole story.

Well...I do agree with the chain letter not telling the whole story, but I don't know how it stirred up trouble for anyone.

Thanks

 

[Big Lou]

Another interesting scenario is this. WalMart creates the need to shop at there stores.

They drive down the prices with low cost labor and there buying power. US company's will not be able to compete. Resulting in a loss of jobs for the US workers. People in these jobs in textile plants all across our country have all ready felt the WM effects. These same people are now forced to find another job, more often then not paying less then there previous one. These families now have less money to spend and need to get the most out of what they have so, they fuel the same machine that created there situation.

Its going to be an endless cycle. People need to realize that those $25 p/h jobs that required little to no education and very little training are gone. We as a country have just got lazy. We want our cake and to eat it to. Its a global economy now. We have to compete with country's whose people have no rights.

The other day I was in line at the local fast food chain and over heard 2 men complaining about losing jobs to companies over-seas. These same 2 men drove right past the local spoon and fork where mom and pop cooked you up the $5 cheeseburger and came in to get themselves the dollar menu cuisine. I guess they just don't realize they just did the same thing those companies did. They went to the place where it was cheaper to get more for there money.

Its the same decision that most of us make every day. Eventually one of two things is going to happen. We will all follow the herd and accept less and less money for our hard work and time, or we will vote people into our government that will actually care about the quality of life for its citizens and TAX the goods coming into our country to create a more even playing field.

People will say this will drive up prices and no one will be able to afford the products. Thats not all true, the products will still be affordable because you wont have to accept less for the work that you do. Lower prices just lead to lower wages.

The problem isn't walmart. Its just another example of how the wrong people in office effect the quality of life in our country.

 

[JaredPointer]

The problem isn't walmart. Its just another example of how the wrong people in office effect the quality of life in our country.

People should educate themselves on the dirvers of cost and stop beleiving everything they see on the "media" and hear at the universities.

 

[Mr. Clean]

People should educate themselves on the dirvers of cost and stop beleiving everything they see on the "media" and hear at the universities.

What the heck is a "dirvers of cost"? I am unaware of any excessive wielding of influence by the current white house administration (are we referring to this administration or the state of Arkansas administration) on behalf of W@lm@rt. I am likewise unaware of any adminstration bashing by either the media or universities on this front. Furthermore neither the media or universities are axis of evil

From my perspective, WM offers many benefits, yet at the same time an entity of this size also seems to generate abuses of power. I just wonder what Sam Walton would think about his product in its current incarnation?

Finally if you don't like WM and what it represents, vote with your wallet and shop elsewhere.

 

[JaredPointer]

What the heck is a "dirvers of cost"?

My mistake - that should read "driver of cost." And since you need a definition - various forces that affect the cost of something in a market.

Never claimed to be perfect - just genious.

 

[Mr. Clean]

My mistake - that should read "driver of cost."

I considered that as a possibility before posting, however I couldn't seem to apply it within the context of your argument. So, I thought that it must be some obscure economic term.

 

[JaredPointer]

I considered that as a possibility before posting, however I couldn't seem to apply it within the context of your argument. So, I thought that it must be some obscure economic term.

I also hope you caught the offhand sarcasm in my reply, and didn't think I was being a smart---.

 

[Mr. Clean]

I also hope you caught the offhand sarcasm in my reply, and didn't think I was being a smart---.

Yeah, I caught on