My wife has been taking Celebrex for several years, and her doctor decided to switch her over to Vioxx, with the hope that it might be better. These two are similar drugs, Celebrex is manufactured by Monsanto, Vioxx is a Merck product.

I took the prescription to our Health Maintenance Organization’s (HMO) drug store, and the pharmacist remarked, “You know, this is an expensive drug.”

I said I thought it was, but I didn't know how expensive.

The pharmacist told me that 30 tabs would be $123.

Yes, that IS expensive.

Then, without my having to ask, she kindly phoned another supplier. After a short conversation, I was told that at the other supplier the prescription was just $73.17.

So, I filled it at the other place.

Now, I should say that the HMO is a large company, as is the “other supplier.”

The next time I had two prescriptions to be refilled. I took them to the other supplier. To my surprise, however, they were substantially higher there than at the HMO pharmacy. One was $27 more; the other was $13 more.

The point is, you just never know unless you check around. And it pays to check. The two local suppliers involved are both reputable. It's not their fault. It's the pharmaceutical companies. They negotiate a different price with every supplier and prices change frequently.

The HMO I'm referring to is Kaiser Permanente, and the “other supplier” is Costco.

I hope this helps you save. Let's apply more pressure to Congress for the good of everybody, including the pharmaceutical companies. 

March 2003