Rip-Off

 In 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.

 

BRAND NAME OF DRUG	CONSUMER PRICE: 100 TABS	COST OF GENERAL ACTIVE INGREDIENTS	PERCENT MARKUP
Celebrex	100 mg $130.27	$0.60	21,712%
Claritin	10 mg $215.17	$0.71	30,306%
Keflex	250 mg $157.39	$1.88	8,372%
Lipitor	20 mg $272.37	$5.80	4,696%
Norvasc	10 mg $188.29	$0.14	134,493%
Paxil	20 mg $220.27	$7.60	2,898%
Prevacid	30 mg $44.77	$1.01	34,136%
Prilosec	20 mg $360.97	$0.52	69,417%
Prozac	20 mg $247.47	$0.11	224,973%
Tenormin	50 mg $104.47	$0.13	80,362%
Vasotec	10 mg $102.37	$0.20	51,185%
Xanax	1mg $136.79	$0.024	569,958%
Zestril	20 mg $89.89	$3.20	2,809%
Zithromax	600mg $1,482.19	$18.78	7,892%
Zocor	40mg $350.27	$8.63	4,059%
Zoloft	50mg $206.87	$1.75	11,821%

Drug Profits
Between the huge markup charged to consumers and the generous corporate welfare enjoyed by the drug companies, things are going quite well. 

DRUG MAKER	LEADING PRODUCTS	ANNUAL PROFIT 12/02	MARKET CAP (10/27/03)	SYMBOL
Pfizer	Celebrex, Lipitor, Zoloft	9.1 Billion	245 Billion	PFE
Merck	Zocor	7.1 Billion	100 Billion	MRK
AstraZeneca	Prilosec	84 Million	1 Billion	AZN
Glaxo	Paxil	132 Million	662 Million	GSK

  
   Summery-The numbers may vary -reported by [Frank M. Painter,   Frankp@chiro.org]