Slashing the high cost of prescription drugs

Life Extension, April, 2007 by William Faloon, Saul Kent

There has never been an organization that has battled high drug prices more aggressively than the Life Extension Foundation.

Back in the early 1980s, Life Extension was the first to suggest that Americans buy their drugs from countries where these same medications cost a fraction of the price. We went on national TV talk shows, ran full-page newspaper ads, and even set up the FDA Museum to expose how Americans were being defrauded by a monopolistic drug cartel protected by the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA retaliated by raiding our facilities, seizing our property, and intimidating everyone with whom we interacted, including a radio station sympathetic to our cause.

The FDA's 15-year criminal investigation resulted in our being indicted with the possibility of facing life in prison. When the US Attorney's Office dismissed the indictment, the FDA tried to convince other government agencies to find some reason to jail us so that we could not keep telling Americans to buy their medications offshore.

FREE-MARKET FORCES TEMPORARILY PREVAIL

By 1999, it appeared that our nearly two-decade campaign had succeeded. Just about every media source was featuring stories about how Americans could buy their prescription drugs for far less money in countries like Canada. The Internet made it easy to locate pharmacies that would ship lower-priced drugs. Even Congress attacked the FDA for interfering with elderly people who tried to import lower-cost prescription drugs. As a result, millions of Americans began ordering their medications from other countries.

Regrettably, pharmaceutical company influence continues to pressure federal agencies to seize lower-cost prescription drugs from other countries. The FDA's website (www.fda.gov) is filled with all kinds of horror stories about the purported dangers of drugs obtained from outside the United States.

CONSUMERS DON'T HAVE TO TOLERATE THIS ABUSE ANYMORE

The outrageous cost of prescription drugs is forcing some people to go broke paying for their medicines. Those with insurance are stunned to see sharply increased drug copays and policy premiums. The Medicare prescription drug bill has so many exclusions that relatively few people benefit. (1-3)

Consumers no longer have to tolerate this pillaging of their pocketbooks. Our nearly three-decade investigation into the FDA-protected drug industry has enabled us to establish the Life Extension Pharmacy.

While the Life Extension Pharmacy will provide its clients with unique lifesaving services, its primary mission is to permanently tear down the high drug costs that are bankrupting America.

ABSOLUTE LOWEST PRICES

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For a variety of bureaucratic reasons, Americans pay the highest prices in the world for their prescription drugs. While the Life Extension Pharmacy has to comply with these same burdensome regulations, we have identified more efficient (but still legal) ways of ensuring that our clients obtain the same drugs, but at sharply reduced prices.

Even if you think you are already paying low generic rates, you will be pleasantly surprised to see the rock-bottom prices offered only by the Life Extension Pharmacy. In fact, for many drugs, you will find Life Extension Pharmacy prices are lower than what they sell for in Canada!

STOP OVERPAYING FOR CARDIAC DRUGS

Tens of millions of Americans take "statin" drugs to lower heart attack and stroke risk. However, few consumers are aware that patents have expired on drugs like Zocor[R] and Pravachol[R]. Instead of passing the savings on to their customers, major discount pharmacy chains have chosen to pocket most of the profits on generic versions of these drugs. All that is about to change.

The Life Extension Pharmacy offers simvastatin (the generic name for Zocor[R]) and pravastatin (the generic name for Pravachol[R]) at the super-low prices shown in Table 1 below.

As you can clearly see, you can enjoy huge savings compared to what you may now be paying for the identical generic drug.

If you are taking brand-name drugs like Lipitor[R], the amount of money you can save by switching to a generic statin is astronomical. For example, it costs $247.99 for 90 10-mg tablets of Lipitor[R] at CVS drugstore. By purchasing simvastatin through the Life Extension Pharmacy, your cost for a comparable dosage plummets by 496%!

WE DON'T SELL CIGARETTES!

It's ironic, but the very pharmacies we trust with our lives have no qualms about offering tobacco products at their front door. Walk down the aisles toward the the rear, and you often pass trans-fat-laden foods, lethal over-the-counter drugs, and other hazardous products for sale.

Can you really have confidence in your pharmacy when it sells products that cause the majority of preventable premature deaths in the United States?

If you don't think there is something wrong with pharmacies selling a product as addictive as cigarettes, think of how many people are trying to quit, but are tempted to purchase a fresh pack of smokes every time they visit their pharmacy.